Ukraine's Mykola Azarov, nominated on Thursday to be prime minister, said state coffers were "empty" and that a "realistic" budget would have to be redrafted for 2010, according to Reuters. Speaking before parliament was due to vote on his nomination, Azarov, a former finance minister and close ally of President Viktor Yanukovich, said: "We will eliminate the financial problems created by the previous government." "The country has been plundered, the coffers are empty, state debt has risen threefold ... The main task today is to redraft and get approved a realistic budget," he told parliament.
