“We were hoping for de-escalation”: the Verkhovna Rada explained why the budget ran out of money for the salaries of the military
Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine hoped that in autumn the Ukrainian army would no longer require such high expenses from the state budget as it was before. However, at the moment, it became necessary to increase the budget by 500 billion hryvnias to ensure the financing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was stated by Ivan Krulko, the head of the subcommittee on state financial control and activities of the Accounting Chamber of the Verkhovna Rada’s budget committee.
As Krulko explained in an interview for “KYIV24”, the question of payments to the military arose because the funds for the salaries of military personnel were included in the budget only until September. He noted that the real reason for the lack of funds for the Armed Forces is that the 2024 budget did not include funds for the payment of wages and “combat” since the beginning of autumn. This is due to the fact that the deputies expected the de-escalation of the war by September. According to the people’s deputy, there were expectations that the need for high spending on the army would decrease from the fall, but this did not happen.
The lack of funds in the state budget for the salaries of the military has led to the fact that the government is now forced to review the budget and increase it by 500 billion hryvnias in order to ensure the necessary expenses for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These funds will be directed not only to the payment of salaries to military personnel, but also to the purchase of weapons under previously concluded contracts.
In addition, on September 6, People’s Deputy Roksolana Pidlasa noted that due to a lack of funds, the Ministry of Defense will not be able to pay servicemen “combat” until September 20. According to her, the budget was planned in such a way that there would be enough money for the purchase of military equipment and the payment of salaries, but in the first quarter of 2024, the United States did not provide Ukraine with sufficient military aid, so the country was forced to rely on its own resources.
In May, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine launched an online calculator for calculating military salaries. Thanks to this tool, each serviceman can independently calculate his financial support, which has become a convenient way to control payments.
The situation with budgetary expenditures for defense emphasizes the importance of additional funding and adjustment of plans, because the realities of war are constantly changing, and it is often difficult to predict the necessary expenditures for a long period.
