Over a quarter of GDP for security and defense: Marchenko at an informal meeting of the EU Council spoke about the 2026 budget
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine's draft state budget for 2026 envisages 60 billion euros for security and defense, which accounts for 27.2% of GDP. Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko announced this at a meeting of the EU Council, thanking for the support and outlining financial challenges.
The draft state budget of Ukraine for 2026 envisages expenditures on security and defense amounting to approximately 60 billion euros, or 27.2% of GDP. This was announced by Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko during an informal meeting of the EU Council in Copenhagen, UNN reports.
Details
He thanked the European Union and its member states for their unwavering support of Ukraine in the face of Russia's ongoing armed aggression. The EU is the largest donor of budgetary assistance to Ukraine. More than half of the external financing in 2025 came from the EU – 16.6 billion euros.
Serhiy Marchenko outlined the main security and financial challenges. Russia is intensifying massive attacks on the territory of Ukraine, and active hostilities continue. This directly affects public finances, as the needs of the defense sector are growing. The budget was recently revised, and defense expenditures were increased by 10 billion euros.
According to Marchenko, Ukraine also needs international support to finance social and humanitarian expenditures. A significant part of these resources has already been confirmed by international partners. Additional mechanisms are being considered to cover the rest, including:
- increasing the capacity of the ERA loans instrument;
- the possibility of launching a Reparations Loan using frozen Russian assets;
- continuation of the cooperation program with the IMF, taking into account new challenges.
In the long term, the Minister of Finance noted the European Commission's proposal to raise 100 billion euros for Ukraine in the EU's seven-year budget for 2028-2034.
Marchenko also confirmed that reforms remain a priority. Ukraine submitted a report for 2025 to the European Commission on the fulfillment of requirements within the first negotiation cluster with the EU and expects negotiations to begin in the near future.
"It was also noted that further strengthening of the sanctions policy against Russia is necessary to achieve lasting and just peace. Sanctions should close loopholes that allow the aggressor to finance the war and maximize restrictions on its budget revenues. At the same time, Serhiy Marchenko welcomed the European Commission's decision to introduce the 19th package of sanctions. Now the decision must be approved by the EU Council," the statement said.
Recall
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the NSDC decision on the defense budget for 2026. The document provides for financing the security and defense sector at no less than the 2025 level, as well as the possibility of adjusting expenditures.