Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko initiated an extraordinary parliament meeting in order to introduce several amendments in the state budget for 2008, deputy head of the presidential secretariat Andrei Goncharuk told a briefing on Wednesday, Itar-Tassreports. According to Yushchenko, the parliament may debate this issue during the period from July 21 to July 25.

The Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee should draft a bill on amendments in the state budget based on two documents worked out by the president and the government. “I think that if the coalition exists, they should realize that they should return in the session hall,” Goncharuk said.

At the Wednesday government meeting Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko accused deputies from the newly formed United Center Party of the protest vote against the governmental variant of the state budget last week. Chief of the presidential secretariat Viktor Baloga is one of the ideologists of the United Center Party. However, the prime minister does not rule out that deputies may discuss several amendments in the budget before the opening of the next session in September. “These consultations are underway,” she said.

Видео дня

Due to the protest vote against several budget amendments that would increase by six billion dollars the budget revenues, some problems emerged over a 13% rise in pensions this July. Several ministries also requested to transfer the financial resources in the third quarter instead of the yearend. The president insisted on the budget to revise due to a sharp rise in the inflation rate that exceeded the previous forecasts of the government.