At a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” held on August 24, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced a deficit in the defense budget of 27 billion.
“Now we have to act in conditions of a funding deficit. Due to the peculiarities of the defense budget, at the beginning of this year the Ministry of Defense used the funds provided for in the budget for the end of the year. And the total deficit is 27 billion,” Zelensky reported on Telegram.
The head of state emphasized the importance of finding ways to cover this amount, taking into account the current situation with financing the country’s defense needs.
What do he see as the main options for covering the budget deficit?
According to Zelensky, one of the key options for covering this deficit is to allocate part of the funds under the European loan planned for next year ahead of schedule and provide them this year.
At the same time, according to him, other ideas should not be abandoned. In particular, he mentioned frozen Russian sovereign assets located in Europe and other jurisdictions of the world.
“And no matter where these assets are located, we need to find a fair way to use them to protect against the Russian war,” the president noted.
However, we do not yet know when the funds under the European loan will arrive and how Ukraine will be able to use the Russian sovereign assets that are FROZEN. And will it be possible to use them at all? In the meantime, our community is attracting internal financial resources, looking for, trying to patch up holes in the state budget with its own funds and help our defenders in providing for their priority needs at the front.
And here, in my opinion, the example of the Darnytsia District State Administration in the city of Kyiv is quite illustrative. First of all, I would like to note the Volunteer Movement of the Darnytsia District. The Volunteer Council under the Darnytsia District State Administration in the city of Kyiv, which has been headed by Raisa Shmatko for over ten years, is operating effectively. They develop and support the volunteer movement in every possible way here, and closely cooperate with the district state administration.
Volunteers regularly personally deliver humanitarian cargo to combat units. The trucks and a special minibus can accommodate a lot of useful things: custom-made wheels and auto parts, UAVs and batteries for them, body armor, clothing and food, hygiene products, etc. Everything was purchased with the funds collected and donated by residents of the district. Moreover, the activists get to the front practically. And it is difficult to count the number of flights, as well as to indicate the value of the cargo. It is simply PRICELESS. After all, it is absolutely necessary, scarce and timely.
It is also worth noting the “Family of Heroes of Darnytsia”, created on the initiative of the leadership of the Darnytsia District State Administration, which united almost 400 participants. These are those who lost their relatives during the Revolution of Dignity, in the ATO/JFO, in the full-scale war unleashed by Russia on February 24, 2022. Temporarily displaced persons also join the “Family”.
The participants of the association constantly communicate in the created group. On a special website, they share experience, give advice and consultations, and provide support. The relations are coordinated by the representative of the administration, Natalia Kharchenko.
It is important that the parents and relatives of the deceased united to raise funds through one of the banks to help fellow pilots of the “Punk group” from the BPS “Chaos Company” company of the 2nd mech battalion of the 3rd OSHB “in purchasing components for the birds of revenge for our fallen soldiers. They also support the servicemen of the 30th brigade and other combat units. This is not the first time they have collected over 100,000 hryvnias. They managed to purchase a car, a bike, a mini Starlink, a ground robotics complex, components for drones, etc. for the fighters. The organizer of the collection, Olga Kupchik, regularly reports on the funds spent.
Of course, the fighters send video reports with sincere thanks and report on the results of combat activities achieved with the use of the received equipment.
This is how the hryvnias collected by citizens help save the lives of our defenders and destroy the Russian occupiers.
It would be good if as many of our compatriots as possible joined such an initiative.
Oleksandr Bondarenko
