KIEV, Oct. 17 – Ukraine is succeeding in the fight against poverty, President Viktor Yanukovych said on the occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

"Today the world is experiencing a worsening of the global economic crisis. Many European governments have been forced to cut budget spending on social programs, reduce pensions and wages. But in Ukraine, there are signs of improvement in the condition the poorest population groups. The extreme poverty rate in the country and its depth is the lowest since 2001 and the level of absolute poverty has decreased from 16.8% in 2010 to 14.6% in 2011," reads the president's statement.

The president also noted that the implementation of social initiatives from May 2012 had allowed the government of Ukraine to increase pensions by around UAH 120 to 12.9 million Ukrainian pensioners, to resume the payment of compensation to depositors of the former Soviet Sberbank, and to start increasing military pensions.