During the presentation of the new Minister of Defence, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised a critical lack of funding. The head of state noted that the rising intensity of the war requires additional resources that are currently absent from the budget. This was reported by UkrRudProm citing Strana, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
The President noted that meeting the needs of the defence sector has become the most difficult challenge for the authorities. According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the enemy is constantly expanding its arsenal of tools, which forces Ukraine to intensify its own countermeasures and increase expenditures that currently exceed planned volumes.
Reasons for financial strain
Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi reported that partners have currently provided only a quarter of the promised financial assistance. In parallel, a need arose for additional funding for operations using drones, which demonstrated high efficiency in the first half of the year. Since these expenses were not included in the budget, officials were forced to redistribute funds earmarked for military personnel salaries.
Additional financial pressure arose due to the need to develop countermeasures against new types of Russian weaponry. In particular, it concerns responding to strikes by jet-powered drones, against which existing interception systems proved ineffective. A separate risk factor is the Russian attacks on port and industrial infrastructure, which have led to a reduction in export revenues for the budget.
Political and economic challenges
Government officials are trying to find a balance between social spending and defence needs, avoiding radical cuts to social programmes. However, the issue of external financing is complicated by corruption scandals, specifically the suspicion issued to Iryna Mudra, Deputy Head of the Office of the President.
The situation is exacerbated by debates regarding public administration initiated by Mykhailo Fedorov. Ukraine’s partners may impose strict demands for strengthening the powers of NABU and SAP as a condition for further aid, which creates a risk of financial problems escalating into an internal political crisis.
Illustrative photo: АрміяInform / CC BY 4.0
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