On July 30, the Verkhovna Rada (VRU), during political consultations, decided that the changes to the budget, which were provided for by draft law No. 13439-3, could not be considered at the meeting on July 31.
Therefore, an alternative draft law No. 13573 was registered, which excluded non-military expenditures and left only an increase in defense spending. It has already been supported by the VRU Budget Committee and recommended for approval as a basis and in general.
This was reported by the head of the committee Roksolana Pidlasa.
She explained that the alternative bill proposes to increase defense sector spending by UAH 412.3 billion, of which 115 billion will go to providing financial support to servicemen of all Defense Forces. Another 216 billion will go to purchasing and manufacturing weapons, military equipment, and drones, and the remaining funds will go to other needs of the army.
The alternative bill also provides for a new distribution of income tax (PIT) from August 1, 2025.
This means that 60% will be directed to the Ministry of Defense to purchase drones, weapons, and military equipment (this is an additional UAH 22.4 billion for the Ministry of Defense, they have already been taken into account in the total increase). Another 30% will be directed to the State Special Communications Service for drones, and 10% for the needs of the brigades.
The budget balance is ensured by the same sources that were previously provided for in the government bill — Domestic Government Bonds (DGBs) and revenue overruns. These are:
- UAH 184.9 billion from increased funds raised from government bonds;
- UAH 147.5 billion from overfulfillment and expected overfulfillment of the budgetʼs own revenues (primarily personal income tax, income tax, excise duty on imported goods + the National Bank and state-owned companies transferred more than expected);
- UAH 65.1 billion from the reduction in costs for the repayment of government bonds;
- UAH 11.2 billion from a reduction in debt service expenses (interest on borrowed money) — due to exchange rate fluctuations and restructurings.
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