Zelensky signed the draft budget for 2026

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law on the state budget for 2026.

This is stated on the lawʼs page on the Verkhovna Rada website.

The budget envisages revenues of UAH 2.92 trillion and expenditures of UAH 4.78 trillion. The budget deficit is approximately UAH 1.9 trillion, or 18.5% of GDP.

UAH 30 billion will be added to the budget from an increase in the tax on bank profits from 25% to 50%.

As for expenditures, about half will go to financing the security and defense sector — UAH 2.81 trillion, or 27.2% of GDP. Of these, UAH 1.3 trillion are financial support for military personnel.

In the 2026 budget, the government, for the first time since 2023, provided for an increase in social standards:

• minimum wage — UAH from 8 000 to 8 647 (an increase of 8%);
• general subsistence minimum — from UAH 2 920 to 3 209 (+9.9%);
• subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons — from UAH 3 028 to 3 328 (+9.9%);
• subsistence minimum for persons who have lost their ability to work — from UAH 2 361 to 2 595 (+9.9%).

Expenditures on the reserve fund have been increased by UAH 19 billion. Funding has also been increased for a phased increase in teachersʼ salaries, the purchase of passenger cars, compensation for business property losses due to the war, the construction of shelters in kindergartens, etc.

However, some MPs criticized the project. In particular, because it does not mention an increase in military salaries, but instead provides for further funding for the "United Marathon".

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