Every hryvnia and every coin that Ukrainian citizens pay into the budget is used by the state to pay salaries to the military, buy equipment, weapons, drones, ammunition and other supplies for the Army. This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at a Government session on July 21.
“The Government allocated UAH 672 billion for defence needs in the first six months of 2023. In the same period, all taxes paid by citizens and businesses totalled UAH 600 billion. Defence and security have been, are and will be an absolute priority of public spending,” said Denys Shmyhal.
The Prime Minister also said that in the first six months of this year, the Government allocated UAH 264 billion to social needs – pensions, support for single mothers, the disabled, IDPs, subsidies and other benefits. This is almost 20% of the total state budget expenditures for this period.
“The third priority is the work of the public sector, primarily the payment of salaries to doctors and teachers, financing of healthcare and educational subventions. The fourth spending priority is critical infrastructure. This includes heat and water supply. This includes the railways and the energy sector. These are the things that the whole country and every citizen needs,” the Head of Government said.
According to the Prime Minister, another spending priority is the rapid recovery, which identifies key areas for the next year: “Restoration and protection of energy facilities. Humanitarian demining. Repairing and rebuilding people’s homes. Restoration of critical and social infrastructure in the de-occupied and affected areas.”
Denys Shmyhal also addressed the heads of local and central authorities, stressing that all spending that was not relevant today should be postponed.
“This is a matter of common sense and understanding of priorities. Ask yourself: will the decision you are about to make bring us closer to victory or solve a critical problem? If the answer is no, then postpone it until after the war. Or look for other sources to implement it,” the Head of Government stressed.
The Prime Minister added that the support of the civilised world today made it possible to implement reforms and projects without budget funding. (Government portal/Business World Magazine)
