OREANDA-NEWS. October 27, 2011. The main driving force for economic growth in Ukraine should become innovation. This was stressed by the Prime Minister Mykola Azarov during a Cabinet meeting.

The Head of Government has noted that during 2010 and 2011 in a direction of innovations, a number of important organizational, legislative, finance solutions is accepted, but it is not enough of it sharply to increase competitiveness of domestic economy.

According to the Prime Minister, for today Ukraine takes 60 place in the Global innovative ranking among 125 countries of the world. And a rating, as emphasized Mykola Azarov is not just a matter of prestige: "The lowest innovative quality of the national economy in comparison with the other – there are direct losses to the state budget and Ukrainian companies."

The Head of Government has given an example that Ukraine spends on the purchase of the rights to objects of intellectual property in 7-8 times more, than it earns from selling of own licences abroad. For all years of independence, the share of investments into high and mean technologies in volumes of direct foreign investments did not exceed 2-4 percent annually, in domestic investments - 3-8 percent.

"This situation should be changed drastically and quickly enough. Namely these innovations should become the engine of the Ukrainian economic growth," Mykola Azarov has underlined.