The IMF called the draft law on the return of 30 000 to military personnel “unbalanced”

Draft Law No. 8312 on the return of additional payments of 30 000 hryvnias to the military does not specify sources of funding (more than $4 billion is needed for this), and therefore may lead to an increase in the budget deficit in 2023.

The representative of the IMF in Ukraine Vahram Stepanyan said this in a comment to the Interfax agency.

According to him, the draft law is not balanced, its implementation may negatively affect the economy and the financial market.

"The search for resources of this scale is likely to involve drastic short-term fiscal measures or substantial borrowing in the domestic financial market, but such measures are practically impossible without very negative effects on the economy and financial markets," the IMF official noted.

Stepanyan added that loans to finance such expenses could put the sustainability of Ukraineʼs debt, which is already under pressure, at even greater risk.

On April 10, 2023, the MPs supported an amendment to draft law No. 8312, which provides for the return of additional payments of 30 000 hryvnias to all military, police and rescue workers until the end of martial law. It is also planned to limit the salaries of top officials to 10 minimum salaries. However, the amendment does not specify where to get the money for these payments.

• From February 1, 2023, Ukraine changed the order of payments to military personnel. They began to depend on the areas of stay, the complexity and specifics of performing combat or special tasks. 100 000 were received by those soldiers who were in the immediate combat zone. 30 000 were received by those who served in a unit included in the Defense Forces or in the reserve of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, were not in the area of hostilities, but were performing combat tasks.