KIEV, March 2 – Ukraine’s largest opposition group, the Regions Party, on Monday harshly criticized measures the government needs to take to qualify for the disbursal of $1.84 billion installment from the International Monetary Fund.

The measures apparently aim at gradually increasing the retirement age - currently 60 for men and 55 for women - as well as eliminating state subsidies for natural gas supplied to households, the party said.

The measures need to be approved by Parliament within and the next several days. President Viktor Yushchenko has been seeking to secure broader support for the measures, including from the opposition groups, for their faster approval.

The criticism comes hours before the Ukrainian leaders are due to sign and submit a letter of declaration focusing on the measures and asking the IMF to disburse the installment.

“Both, the president and the prime minister united forces against the Ukrainian people,” the Regions Party said in a statement.

The Regions Party, whose representative Mykola Azarov, a former finance minister, has joined the meeting of Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko Friday over the measures, warned it will reject them.

Among the measures, the Regions party said there will be an increase of the pension age gradually - by six months every year, and increasing to world level household gas prices.

“As the opposition, the Regions Party is stating decisively that we will never let to torture in such a way millions of workers that have been earning their pension through hard work,” the party said. “We will not let the Supreme Rada to approve this bill.”

The delay of the bill could potentially slow down an overall process of receiving the $1.84 billion installment from the IMF, an important condition for Ukraine to avert default on debts.

The installment is part of the $16.4 billion rescue package approved for Ukraine last year. Ukraine hopes to get $9.6 billion this year from the IMF.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko on Monday confirmed their determination to sign the declaration and submit it on Tuesday to the IMF to speed up the disbursement of the installment. The IMF’s move would also unlock lending from the World Bank, and Yushchenko said he had already invited Robert Zellick, the president of the World Bank, to visit Ukraine

“So, this way we are starting the fundamental work with the international financial institutions,” Yushchenko said.

But the Regions Party, which controls 172 seats in the 450-seat Parliament, said it will make sure no measures are approved.

“In response, we want to call on the people to get away the liars and adventurers that seek to get the foreign money,” the party said. “The Regions Party will not allow approval of measures that put the burden of the crisis on shoulders of the people.” (tl/ez)