KIEV, Nov. 12 – Healthcare Minister Vasyl Kniazevych said Thursday he will ask President Viktor Yushchenko to sign legislation that requires the National Bank of Ukraine to print one billion hryvnias to fight flu epidemic.

Kniazevych, who is thought to be a Yushchenko loyalist, argued that the government has never allocated enough money for healthcare, and one billion hryvnias is only a fraction of what is required.

“We need this billion,” Kniazevych said in an interview with Channel 5. “We could do many serious things to prevent the spread of the epidemic and to buy serious medicines, vaccine.”

Yushchenko said Wednesday that he will probably veto the legislation and said the government should either borrow or cut spending to come up with funds to fight the epidemic, instead of relying on money printing.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Wednesday urged the president to sign the bill and said the veto would quickly ground the government’s anti-flu efforts to a halt.

The government has so far spent 500 million hryvnias on anti-flu measures, including buying Tamiflu and other medicines, and the government has asked the NBU to provide an extra 1 billion hryvnias quickly.

The government said earlier this month that a total of up to 3 billion hryvnias may be required to fight the epidemic, but it had run out of cash to be able to pay for it.

“Only now we understand that 1.5 billion hryvnias will be too little to improve the situation,” Kniazevych said. “The Healthcare Ministry needs more than one billion hryvnias. We are chronically underfinanced and this epidemic is a chance to understand that healthcare is an expensive thing.”

“I think that I will ask the president for a meeting on Friday and will voice my arguments that I believe are needed,” Kniazevych said.

Meanwhile, the death toll from flu-like illnesses rose to 239 people as of Thursday with 1.25 million people that are reported to be sick, according to the ministry. These compare with 213 dead and 1.19 million sick a day earlier.

The epidemic is gradually moving from the western regions across Ukraine to eastern regions, according to the ministry.

Yushchenko has earlier said the Tymoshenko-led government has been overreacting to the flu epidemic to gain political advantage ahead of the next presidential election.

The government shut down schools and banned public gatherings in many regions with opposition figures complaining the measures do not allow them to hold rallies and campaign for the presidency.

Yushchenko said he asked regional governors to hold meetings to see if the situation has improved, and it does, to cancel the emergency measures and to return to normal activity. (tl/ez)