"The rate of inflation remains high. According to the results of this year, we expect that the growth in consumer prices will amount to 40%," Holovach said.
The Ukrainian economy has been hard hit since last year's toppling of the regime of former President Viktor Yanukovych, after which corruption and theft by the former government on a massive scale became known.
With Russia's subsequent illegal annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and Moscow's fomenting and fueling of an insurrection-by-proxy in the east of Ukraine, the country has also lost a chunk of its manufacturing base for valuable metals exports.
Other woes include the drastic devaluation of the national currency the hryvnia, which has left Kyiv struggling to pay off the country's large foreign debts, and simmering rows with Russia over payments for the supply of gas.
