KIEV, July 23 – Ukraine will hold new local elections after amendments to the constitution aimed at decentralizing the governance system take effect, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.

"After the constitutional amendments take effect, we will hold elections for local self-government bodies again, because these constitutional amendments invest territorial communities with absolutely different powers," Yatseniuk said at a board meeting of the Regional Development, Construction, and Utilities Ministry on Thursday.

The Ukrainian authorities should prepare for switching to a new governance system within the next two years, he said.