The Ministry of Finance assures that the state budget for 2025 is designed to ensure a stable year despite the challenges of war

The adopted amendments to the Tax Code and part of the funds from the ERA will allow to fully finance all planned expenditures of the Defense Forces in 2025. This was reported by the Ministry of Finance, UNN reports.

The State Budget of Ukraine for 2025 is designed to ensure that the next year will be stable despite the challenges of war. In it, meeting the needs of the security and defense sector is an absolute priority for the Ministry of Finance. More than UAH 2.2 trillion is allocated for the Defense Forces next year, which is 26.3% of GDP. Out of this amount, UAH 740 billion will be spent on the purchase of weapons, which fully covers the annual requirement, and almost UAH 50 billion will be spent on the production and purchase of UAVs

It is reported that at the same time, the provision of social and humanitarian needs and measures to restore the economy were taken into account.

"The state budget combines domestic resources and confirmed international support, which will allow us to finance all planned expenditures. The support of our partners under the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) program plays an important role. This is a mechanism that provides for the receipt of USD 50 billion from the G7 countries. This is a mechanism which provides for the receipt of USD 50 billion from the G7 countries and the subsequent repayment from the proceeds of the frozen Russian assets," the Ministry of Finance informs.

It is planned to receive $20 billion from the US, $20 billion from the EU, $3 billion from the UK, $3.7 billion from Canada, and $3 billion from Japan.

"The peculiarity of the program is the possibility of directing part of these funds (from the EU and the UK) directly to defense needs, which, in combination with domestic resources, in particular those received from the recently adopted changes to the Tax Code, will strengthen military capabilities and meet all the critical needs of the Defense Forces," the statement said.

It is noted that such an approach provides Ukraine with the necessary financial stability, allowing it to respond effectively to wartime challenges and lay the foundation for economic recovery.

Addendum

On November 19, the Rada adopted the state budget for 2025.

Roksolana Pidlasa, MP and head of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget, said that if the intensity of hostilities changes, and there are huge interruptions in the supply of weapons from international partners, it will be necessary to make changes to the state budget for defense in 2025.

Recall

In June this year, Roksolana Pidlasa stated that problems with financing the military budget forced the government to use funds intended for the military's salaries to purchase weapons in the first quarter of 2024. This will result in a budget deficit of almost $5 billion by the end of the year. 

As a result, in September, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a basis a government bill , which provides for an increase in the state budget by UAH 500 billion in 2024.

The government has also repeatedly stated that it lacks funds to produce weapons, including drones. For example, in August of this year, Zelensky said that it was quite possible for Ukraine to produce 1.5-2 million drones, but that it would require very little money.

Also, Prime Minister Shmyhal said in August that Ukraine has a critical need to raise additional funds for defense, for defense capability.

At the same time, Ukraine has decided to introduce "Winter eSupport" to receive assistance in the amount of UAH 1000. 

Deputy Economy Minister Nadiia Bihun said that the funds for the Winter eSupport program came from savings.

Since the announcement of the Winter eSupport, there has been information that the funds have been allocated by Western partners.

Subsequently, the head of the Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee, Roksolana Pidlasa, said that the government would take unused funds from the Unemployment Fund to pay the bill.

The First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko stated that the Winter eSupport program would be funded from the funds allocated in the 2024 budget.

"The balances of the unused programs, which at the end of the year were all added to this demand stimulation program and are actually the source of this UAH 1000 payment. That is, these are the funds that were budgeted for," Svyrydenko told.