Zelensky signed the first changes to the budget this year — expenses increased by more than 5 billion hryvnias

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed the first amendments to the budget this year (Law No. 8399).

This was reported by the head of the parliamentary budget committee Roksolana Pidlasa on March 17.

The law adds another source of funding to the War Consequences Liquidation Fund — the sale of assets of Russian oligarchs under the Sanctions Law.

It is planned to increase budget expenditures by 5.5 billion hryvnias, namely:

• + UAH 1.35 billion — a new budget program for the reconstruction and/or modernization of three hospitals (Okhmatdyt, a university clinic in Kyiv and a rehabilitation center in Lviv) — at the expense of a loan from Austria;
• + UAH 1.28 billion for grants for small and micro-businesses for processing;
• + UAH 1.12 billion for the bridge reconstruction program (credit to Britain);
• + UAH 1.094 billion for the arrangement of checkpoints (loan to Poland);
• + UAH 365.7 million for the Fund for the partial guarantee of loans in agriculture (World Bank grant);
• + UAH 285 million for the purchase of drones for monitoring the state border (loan to Poland);
• + UAH 80 million for the purchase of special equipment for hospitals (grant from Japan).

Another 4.5 billion hryvnias will be spent on the renewal of railway cars (it will be financed from the remainder of the 2020, 2021 and 2022 programs and partly from the funds of the Road Fund, which were allocated for road safety in 2023).

They also provided for the possibility of compensation (insurance) for the owners of sea vessels and vessels operating in internal waters, in case they are damaged or destroyed by Russia. The total amount of compensation is up to 20 billion hryvnias.

In addition, the Ministry of Reconstruction received from the Ministry of Finance the Fund for the Liquidation of the Consequences of Armed Aggression, which is 52.5 billion hryvnias.

• On March 13, the government supported the draft law on increasing expenditures from the state budget by 537 billion hryvnias — this will be the largest increase in the budget in the history of Ukraine. More than 518 billion are proposed to be directed to the security and defense sector and to increase the reserve fund by another 19 billion. This will help strengthen the countryʼs defense capabilities.