Authorities should not rest on their laurels - Poroshenko

He said this at an annual meeting of the Regional Development Council in Kyiv on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We could calm down and rest on our laurels only if the high approval ratings of our western partners were shared by the Ukrainian society. But if 70% of people think that the country is moving in the wrong direction, it means that we all together, the authorities and local government agencies, are not working enough," Poroshenko said.

He stressed that most reforms are far-reaching and strategic in nature, when negative and painful aspects are manifested immediately, while positive changes will be seen in a year, two, three or more.

In addition, Poroshenko noted that although economic growth has been restored, but its pace is not sufficient at the moment so that the restoration of living standards could be felt in all regions and social strata, so that Ukrainians cease to be one of the poorest countries in Europe.

At the same time, the head of state stressed that the awareness work of the authorities on reforms "is clearly insufficient."

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