Ukraine expands defense spending by $14 billion
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal (Photo:Denys Shmyhal / Telegram)
The Ukrainian government has drafted a bill that would increase state budget expenditures by UAH 537 billion ($14.5 billion), Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal announced via Telegram on March 13.
“We propose to allocate more than UAH 518 billion ($14 billion) to the security and defense sector, and increase the reserve fund by another UAH 19 billion,” Shmyhal said.
“This will help strengthen our defense capability and stop the Russian aggression.”
According to him, Ukraine has found additional funds to support the army thanks to the help of international partners. The bill envisages using this funding to pay salaries to the servicemembers, as well as to purchase military equipment. The PM added that the government is counting on the support of the Ukrainian parliament in swiftly passing the bill.
In his March 13 evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that all funds would be used to finance the military, support the defense sector and defense equipment, including drones.
According to Ukrainian MP Roksolana Pidlasa, the increased expenses will be covered by the following income sources:
UAH 419.3 billion – increase in the state budget deficit (debt financing);
UAH 60.7 billion – increase in state budget revenues;
UAH 50.3 billion – decreases in sovereign debt servicing;
UAH 6.9 billion – reduction of expenses for providing various state guarantees.
According to Pidlasa, the parliament will review the bill “without delay.” She noted that this is the largest increase in state budget spending in the history of Ukraine, "dictated by the needs of the military campaign."
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