"Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov outlined the directions, but not the specific financial resources. In bureaucratic terms, what is needed are sources of funding. There has to be a source. You take money from here and transfer it there. You receive it from somewhere and allocate it here. No one presented such a scheme. This question was put to the minister and his representatives, if I remember correctly, three or four times. We did not hear a definitive, firm answer. We heard about the areas where he plans to look for this money. A direction is not a resource. It's an idea, but it's not actual money you can hold in your hands," Rakhmanin said on Radio NV.
He said this reflected a tendency by the authorities to announce changes before conducting a thorough financial assessment and identifying the necessary resources and funding.
"Logically, it should have worked like this: You determine a plan, you find the financial resources, you calculate everything and say, 'We have this plan, we are going to do this and this, and we are starting tomorrow.' Instead, they first run out and announce it, and only then begin looking for the resources," the lawmaker said.
At the same time, Rakhmanin said he believed the government would find the money needed to cover at least part of the planned payments.
"There is the approach of a manager, who conducts an audit, performs an analysis, develops formulas and only then starts implementation. Then there is the startup approach: You sit down, come up with an idea and immediately rush to make it happen. This is somewhat of a startup approach — reactive, and sometimes it produces results. But financing the enormous and extremely costly mechanism known as the Defense Forces is very complex work. I think the money will be found, perhaps not in full, perhaps in full. I'm not saying the money doesn't exist. I'm saying I don't understand where it will come from," he said.
Plans to increase military pay
On May 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had instructed officials to "substantially increase" military compensation in line with the principle of fairness. Service members are expected to receive higher payments based on frontline duties, combat and leadership experience, and effectiveness.
According to Zelenskyy, the minimum level of pay should be no less than 30,000 hryvnias ($720) for rear positions, while personnel in combat roles should receive significantly more.
He added that particular attention is being paid to infantry troops and that infantry soldiers should feel that "the state truly respects them." Zelenskyy instructed officials to develop special contracts for infantry personnel with payments ranging from 250,000 to 400,000 hryvnias ($6,000-$9,600), depending on combat performance.
Roman Kostenko, secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, told Radio NV that Ukraine plans to use part of a 90 billion euro ($103 billion) reparations-backed loan to finance the increase in military salaries.