State Budget 2025 to be voted on at the end of November - head of the committee

State Budget 2025 to be voted on at the end of November - head of the committee

Kyiv  •  UNN

October 9 2024, 07:53 AM  •  7618 views

The draft state budget for 2025 is currently being reviewed for amendments. It provides for UAH 2.2 trillion for defense, including UAH 1.2 trillion for military salaries and UAH 737 billion for weapons. The vote in the Rada is scheduled for the end of November.

Currently, the draft law on the State Budget for 2025 is at the stage of consideration of amendments by MPs. At the end of October, it is planned to vote in the first reading in the Verkhovna Rada and at the end of November - to vote in the second reading and in general. This was announced by MP, chairman of the parliamentary committee on budget Roksolana Pidlasa during a telethon on Wednesday, a UNN correspondent reports.

(the draft law on the State Budget for 2025 - ed.) at the stage of consideration of amendments by MPs. We have compiled a table showing that MPs have submitted over 2,000 amendments to the state budget this year. This is about 400 more than last year. Next week we will consider them in the Budget Committee. After that, it is planned to vote in the first reading in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada at the end of October and in the second reading and in general at the end of November

- Pidlasa said. 

She emphasized that defense is the first and absolute priority. 

"Expenditures for the security and defense sector are planned at UAH 2.2 trillion. The next largest expenditure items are social security - about UAH 419 billion and public debt service - UAH 481 billion. More than half of this UAH 2.2 trillion will be spent on military salaries. 1.2 trillion hryvnias will be allocated for this purpose," Pidlasa said. 

According to her, UAH 737 billion will be used to purchase and modernize weapons and military equipment. In particular, for example, UAH 47 billion will be allocated for the production of drones in the country. 

"According to various estimates, the capacity of the Ukrainian defense industry is between $20 and $30 billion. That is, Ukrainian manufacturers can produce ammunition, weapons, equipment, etc. for this amount. For example, we can produce 4 million drones annually. The only question is the ability of the state to place a state order and buy these weapons," said Pidlasa. 

She said that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is negotiating to ensure that international funds can be used for defense needs in 2025. 

"The government is currently negotiating to ensure that international funds can be used for defense needs next year, and then we will see a qualitative jump in these expenditures if an agreement is reached," said Pidlasa. 

State budget for 2025: where and how funds will be spentSeptember 14 2024, 01:41 PM • 232760 views

On September 14, 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers registered in the Verkhovna Rada a draft law "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025".

On September 20, it was reported that Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal saidthat the government proposes to increase the budget for arms and military equipment by 65% in 2025, which amounts to an additional UAH 300 billion.