MPs have criticised the draft budget over the allocation of 40 billion hryvnias to the Ministry of Defence
This was stated by MPs Iryna Herashchenko, Nina Yuzhanina and Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
The Verkhovna Rada has criticised the government’s draft amendments to the state budget for 2026.
According to opposition representatives, the document provides for a reduction in the Ministry of Defence’s current expenditure on arms procurement by 40 billion hryvnias.
These funds, MPs say, are proposed to be channelled into the Budget Reserve Fund.
Parliament may consider the budget amendments as early as this week.
Iryna Herashchenko’s position
Iryna Gerashchenko, co-chair of the European Solidarity faction, stated that the government wants to take funds from the Ministry of Defence under the heading ‘Weapons procurement’.
According to her, this money could go “towards cashback schemes and e-vouchers”.
The “ES” faction has registered alternative amendments to the budget. These propose increasing funding for the defence sector and the military’s pay.
“We have a disaster with our air defence, a shortage of missiles, and at the same time they plan to take funds from the Army to satisfy the whims of those in power?!” – stated Gerashchenko.
She also announced the registration of a draft Anti-Corruption Strategy and called for reform and a complete overhaul of the State Bureau of Investigation.
What Nina Yuzhanina said
MP Nina Yuzhanina reported that the Budget Committee is to consider government bill No. 15224.
It concerns the allocation of part of the €45 billion European loan to the security and defence sector.
Yuzhanina cautioned that the funds from this loan are proposed to be directed not only towards the needs of the Ministry of Defence, but also towards other bodies within the security sector.
According to her, the government bill cuts the Ministry of Defence’s current expenditure on arms procurement by 40 billion hryvnias and transfers this money to the budget reserve fund.
“The government’s draft bill cuts the Ministry of Defence’s current expenditure on arms procurement by 40 billion hryvnias and channels these funds into the budget’s reserve fund, which can then be used for populist government programmes such as Cashback, eBaku, Winter Support, 3,000 Kilometres and so on,” Yuzhanina stated.
She emphasised that the main priority should be to increase pay for military personnel and boost arms procurement for the front line and rear defence.
Criticism from Yaroslav Zheleznyak
Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a representative of the “Holos” faction, also criticised the government’s draft budget amendments.
According to him, the document retains “populism”, once again allocates 40 billion hryvnias to the Reserve Fund for “eBachok” and “Cashback”, and also decides to increase salaries for SBU employees.
Zheleznyak stated that 40 billion hryvnias are being taken from the Ministry of Defence, which, he said, are being given to “Kuleba for resilience plans”.
He called for an end to “unbridled populism to prop up the president’s approval ratings”.
According to Zheleznyak, the alternative draft budget amendments propose cutting unjustified general fund expenditure that is not directly allocated to defence.
What the alternative draft proposes
A group of MPs has registered an alternative draft amendment to the state budget, No. 15224-4.
In particular, it proposes that European loan funds be directed exclusively to the Ministry of Defence.
The document provides for 396.7 billion hryvnias to increase the pay of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and to pay a one-off cash allowance to those signing up for the first time or who have been mobilised.
The report also mentions UAH 1,000 billion for the procurement, modernisation and repair of weapons and military equipment.
Furthermore, the alternative draft proposes channelling the military levy towards increasing the pay of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel.
For the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Foreign Intelligence Service (SZR), the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service, the proposal is to increase pay only for those directly involved in combat operations.
Personal Income Tax for brigades and payments to military personnel
The alternative draft also proposes increasing the portion of personal income tax allocated to the logistical support of Armed Forces units from 10% to 20%.
According to the authors’ estimates, this should provide the brigades with an additional 7.8 billion hryvnias.
Separately, MPs propose not to cut the Ministry of Defence’s expenditure on arms procurement, which amounts to 40 billion hryvnias.
The draft also includes a requirement to oblige the Cabinet of Ministers to implement the President’s directive within two weeks to increase payments to military personnel by between 250,000 and 400,000 UAH, depending on the performance of combat tasks.
What happened previously
Earlier, Zheleznyak warned that the current budget amendments do not provide sufficient funds to increase military salaries.
The media also reported that the European Union plans to allocate the majority of the €90 billion in financial aid to Ukraine towards defence needs.
The remaining funds are to be channelled towards supporting the state budget.
The leader of “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, has called for funds from the military levy to be channelled to the army.
This amounts to over 200 billion hryvnias annually.
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