People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak stated that the proposed government amendments to the state budget for 2026 again lack funds for the needs of the army and for increasing military salaries. At the same time, according to him, part of the money is planned to be directed to the reserve fund, regional programs, and increasing funding for certain state bodies.
The government proposed record changes to the budget
According to Yaroslav Zheleznyak, on May 8, the government submitted changes to the state budget amounting to 1.56 trillion hryvnias.
The MP explained that this mainly concerns the reflection of European credit funds in the budget, including part of the financial assistance from the EU.
At the same time, Zheleznyak stated that the budget only allocated 174 billion hryvnias for financial support for the military, although, in his assessment, the real need is significantly higher.
According to the deputy, this is not enough even to cover the previous funding deficit, so the increase in military salaries is practically not included in the budget draft.
Zheleznyak criticized the spending of the reserve fund
The deputy also drew attention to an additional 40 billion hryvnias for the reserve fund.
He stated that earlier the funds of the fund were already spent on cashback programs, payments of "Zelensky's thousand," and other social initiatives, which Zheleznyak called populist.
The deputy also mentioned plans to additionally allocate:
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40 billion hryvnias for regional programs;
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2.5 billion hryvnias for the SBU;
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certain funds for other law enforcement agencies.
Zheleznyak emphasized that he considers it unfair to increase funding for certain state structures amid the lack of money for the military.
Alternative proposals are being prepared in the Rada
The MP also stated that he plans to submit alternative amendments to the budget during the consideration of the document in the Verkhovna Rada.
According to him, some deputies may oppose the government's manual distribution of funds and demand more funding for defense needs.
The issue of financing the army and the budget deficit remains one of the key topics for Ukraine amid the war and rising state expenditures.
For Ukrainians, this means further discussions regarding taxes, state expenditures, and the distribution of international financial assistance in 2026.
Earlier, Yaroslav Zheleznyak stated that after the increase in electricity tariffs in 2024 Energoatom might have hidden tens of billions of hryvnias in profits due to financial reporting.