Serhiy Sobolev: we have formed a new and better opposition government

Opposition government Prime Minister Serhiy Sobolev has said that the new executive body of the united democratic opposition, as opposed to the ruling Cabinet of Ministers, will use new approaches to problem solving and will be formed based on the European model accepted.

"I’m surprised by the current majority that represents a single political force, so to say, that increases the government 50% while the president announces a 20% cut. What reductions if there are seven vice prime ministers and new ministries? I believe this is very characteristic of the new government. This is the old Soviet approach by people who aren’t used to working in new ways," Serhiy Sobolev said on Channel 5.

The prime minister announced that the opposition government will be fully formed within three days and the first meeting will be held next week.

"I was approved as prime minister by the council of political parties that are in the opposition. I have three days to form a government and I’ve held all the necessary consultations with the deputies, because this government is formed exclusively by deputies, as mandated by parliamentary rules. Next week there will be the first meeting of the full opposition government," Serhiy Sobolev announced.

This is the first government in Ukraine formed according to European standards. "I appealed to opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to reform the government because she couldn’t in 2005 or 2007 because there were conditions that didn’t allow this. We agreed that this should be a European government comprised of 16 ministries," he said.

According to him, infrastructural changes will be controlled by the minister of economy, and "there will be no ministers in our government who deal with bread, meat or milk – this should be the job of the farmers; there also will be no ministers who deal with rail or road transport."

The core ministries of the opposition government will be the ministries of health, education and social policy, and those that control core functions of the state – ministry of defense and ministry of internal affairs.

"We’ve finalized that structure of the government, functional responsibility of the ministers, and I think this is how the work should begin. Because it’s easier to talk about cuts, and then present a government that’s one and a half times bigger than the previous government," Serhiy Sobolev added.