Parliament has cleared the way to increase defense spending by 1.56 trillion hryvnias
Kyiv • UNN
The Rada has unblocked the law on increasing defense expenditures by 1.56 trillion hryvnias. The funds will be directed toward military salaries and equipment modernization.
On June 18, Parliament rejected seven draft resolutions that proposed to cancel the decision to adopt the Law on Amendments to the State Budget for 2026. This was reported by UNN.
Details
This refers to bill No. 15224, which provided, among other things, for an increase in funding for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. By rejecting the relevant drafts, the people's deputies gave the document a "green light." Now it can be signed by the head of state and the law will enter into force.
Parliamentarians refused to proceed with seven resolutions regarding the cancellation of the decision of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dated June 10, 2026, on the adoption in the second reading and as a whole of the draft Law on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026" regarding the financial support of the security and defense sector.
Rada unblocked the use of EU funds for additional defense funding: what the Ministry of Defense says
Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov has already reacted to the parliamentarians' decision. On his official Telegram channel, he wrote that it allows for the completion of the procedure for adopting amendments to the state budget and the timely attraction of financial assistance from the European Union.
Today, Ukraine has a chance to consolidate the strategic initiative on the battlefield. Our long-range capabilities are growing, unmanned systems are scaling at record rates, and the Defense Forces are undergoing the largest transformation since the years of independence. It is important to maintain this pace and prevent pauses in meeting the needs of the Ukrainian military
He thanked the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk and the people's deputies for the prompt consideration of the issue and support of the decision.
Fedorov noted that the additional funds are planned to be directed to the payment of monetary allowances to military personnel, as well as to the purchase, modernization, and repair of weapons, military equipment, and ammunition for the needs of the Defense Forces.
What you need to know about the bill on amendments to the State Budget-2026
On June 10, 2026, people's deputies supported bill No. 15224 "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine 'On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026' regarding the financial support of the security and defense sector." 242 parliamentarians cast their votes "in favor."
What the draft law is about
According to the bill, state budget revenues in 2026 are expected to increase to almost 5.2 trillion hryvnias instead of the previously planned 2.9 trillion hryvnias. Expenditures are also increasing — from 2.6 trillion hryvnias to almost 3.8 trillion hryvnias.
Separately, the document provides for additional funding for the security and defense sector in the amount of 1.56 trillion hryvnias. In particular, the expenditures of the National Guard of Ukraine will increase from over 186 billion hryvnias to over 202 billion hryvnias. Funding for the Ministry of Internal Affairs will grow from over 503 billion hryvnias to over 533 billion hryvnias, and the expenditures of the Ministry of Defense will reach over 3.4 trillion hryvnias.
In addition, funding for the State Special Transport Service of Ukraine will increase to over 58.4 billion hryvnias, an increase of 2.13 billion hryvnias. Expenditures of the Main Intelligence Directorate will grow to over 31.5 billion hryvnias, which is 1.83 billion hryvnias more. The Security Service of Ukraine will receive over 43.3 billion hryvnias, with an additional increase of 2.47 billion hryvnias.
The law also gives the Cabinet of Ministers the opportunity in 2026 to distribute budget allocations for the implementation of comprehensive resilience plans for regions and individual cities. If necessary, the government will be able to open new budget programs, in particular for transfers to local budgets. For this purpose, 40 billion hryvnias are planned to be added to the Reserve Fund.
Why lawmakers criticized the document
It should be noted that the document had previously faced criticism. For instance, MP and leader of the "Smart Politics" association Dmytro Razumkov spoke negatively about the changes to the state budget because the money intended for weapons for the AFU was being directed to the reserve fund.
This money could go to other state programs, while the issue of increasing payments to the military remains unresolved
The parliamentarian also emphasized that the minimum payment of over 20,000 UAH has not been indexed for several years and has lost real purchasing power due to inflation.
MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak also expressed his opinion on this matter.
According to the MP, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, during a meeting with representatives of parliamentary factions, reported that the current deficit in army funding, excluding changes in labor remuneration, is about 150 billion hryvnias.
Separately, according to his data, another 120 billion hryvnias are needed to implement the announced increase in payments to military personnel. Thus, the total additional funding requirement is about 270 billion hryvnias.
Zheleznyak noted that these funds were not provided for in the amendments to the state budget that the Verkhovna Rada adopted the day before. After all, according to the adopted changes, funding for the security and defense sector increases by 1.56 trillion hryvnias.
The Ministry of Finance explained that the total resource for defense and security, taking into account the changes, should amount to over 4.3 trillion hryvnias.
The Ministry of Defense also reported that additional funds should be directed, in particular, to the development of weapons and military equipment, monetary allowances for military personnel, and other needs of the defense sector.
At the same time, according to Zheleznyak, even after the adoption of the budget amendments, there will remain a separate need for funding current army expenditures and the reform of military pay.
Context
Somewhat earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced changes in the payment system for military personnel. In particular, this concerned raising the minimum salary for military personnel in the rear to 30,000 hryvnias, as well as a significant increase in payments for soldiers on the front line.
Subsequently, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov reported that about 60 billion UAH was found within the Ministry of Defense to launch the first stage of the military pay reform in 2026. According to him, these funds were freed up thanks to an audit, optimization of expenditures, refusal of unnecessary purchases, and savings on tenders.