In Vinnytsia region, only 11% of funds were allocated from local community budgets in 2023 to improve Ukraine's defense capabilities. This is stated in the report of the working group "Transparency and Accountability" of the Department of Strategic Investigations in Vinnytsia region, according to UNN with reference to Vinnytsia Regional Military Administration.
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The report states that an analysis of the use of budget funds by local governments in Vinnytsia Oblast in 2023 was conducted. It was found that the total amount of expenditures on unprotected items is more than UAH 5 billion.
At the same time, about 570 million hryvnias were allocated for purposes related to improving defense capabilities, in particular, to support the Armed Forces, law enforcement agencies and other military formations, which is only 11% of the total expenditures.
In addition, the working group conducted more than 100 monitoring of public procurement for a total amount of over UAH 400 million. Law enforcers registered two criminal proceedings on misuse of more than UAH 10 million.
Following the 2020 local elections, the former prime minister's party, Hroisman's Ukrainian Strategy, gained full power in most local communities in Vinnytsia Oblast.
The USG has a majority in the regional council, which is headed by its representative and Groysman's ally Vyacheslav Sokolovyi.
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Earlier, residents of Vinnytsia registered a petition demanding that hundreds of millions of hryvnias, which are planned in the city's budget for 2024 to be spent on landscaping, repairs, and similar things, be used to support the Armed Forces.
The petition states that these funds can be used to buy at least tens of thousands of drones. And last year, there were many scandals in the city due to mismanagement of community funds.
According to Forbes Ukraine, over the first nine months of last year, UAH 148 million was allocated from Vinnytsia's city budget to support the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
At the same time, almost830 million hryvnias were spent on the improvement of Vinnytsia, whose mayor is Groysman's ally Serhiy Morgunov.