Korolevska denies decline in wage growth

KYIV, July 30 /Ukrinform/. Rumors of a significant decline in the pace of wage growth in Ukraine in the first half of 2013 are untrue.

Ukrainian Social Policy Minister Natalia Korolevska said this at a press conference at the Cabinet of Ministers, while commenting at the request of a Ukrinform reporter on some media reports regarding a slowdown in the growth of wages.

"According to our figures, the pace of wage growth has reached over 6%. This significantly exceeds the pace of growth of gross domestic product. We believe that wages are being partly legalized. This pace coincides with the pace of previous years. Statistics does not take into account small businesses employing up to ten people. Therefore, we often have differences with them," Korolevska said.

She said that she relies on the figures provided to the Social Policy Ministry by the Pension Fund following the payment of a single social contribution: "We hope for economic intensification and for the fact that the inflow of additional resources will help intensify the enterprises that are currently in a depressive condition. Let's hope that the situation will change by the end of the year."

At the same time, the minister did not name the average salary that can be expected at the end of this year. "We expect the total wage fund at UAH 460 billion at the end of the year. This is what is envisaged in the macroeconomic figures of the budget. We are currently surpassing budget execution by UAH 1.4 billion," Korolevska said.

ap