European Solidarity submits draft budget amendments to Rada proposing UAH 1.6 trln increase in security, defense spending

The European Solidarity faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has initiated draft amendments to the 2026 State Budget, providing for an increase in state budget revenues by UAH 2.3 trillion and an increase in expenditures by UAH 1.6 trillion, with a corresponding reduction in state budget financing through debt operations by UAH 651.5 billion.

The relevant draft law on amendments to the law On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026 regarding increased financial support for the security and defense sector was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on May 22 under No. 15224-4. Its initiators are political party leader Petro Poroshenko and MPs Nina Yuzhanina, Artur Herasymov, Iryna Herashchenko and Mykhailo Bondar.

"It is proposed to increase state budget expenditures, in particular, by UAH 1,571.1 billion for the Ministry of Defense; UAH 10.5 billion for the National Guard; UAH 7.2 billion for the State Border Guard Service; UAH 2.7 billion for the Security Service of Ukraine; UAH 1.9 billion for the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense; and UAH 14.58 billion to increase the reserve of funds for the security and defense sector. In addition, the draft law proposes reducing general fund expenditures of the state budget for certain key spending units by a total of UAH 5.2763 billion, including UAH 4 billion for strategic communications and UAH 1 billion for the television marathon," according to the explanatory note to the draft law.

The faction, in particular, emphasizes the need to increase remuneration for military personnel on the front line.

"After the terrible night that Kyiv and all of Ukraine endured, the need to strengthen air defense, step up the fight against corruption and transfer all funds to the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be obvious to this parliament. This is the basis of European Solidarity’s position," Herashchenko said at a briefing.

According to Yuzhanina, the Armed Forces of Ukraine need substantial assistance, especially for the purchase of weapons.

"The EUR 45 billion loan from the European Union represents a huge resource for weapons procurement. This resource must be included in the State Budget so that these funds can be used. Among the priorities on which we will insist is that all talk about increasing remuneration for military personnel must not remain merely words. The necessary resources must be allocated now. Therefore, both in the figures and in the instruction to the Cabinet of Ministers, we are setting a clear task to quickly calculate and include in the State Budget all payments related to the promised UAH 250,000 to UAH 400,000 per month for those performing combat missions," she said.

The alternative draft law provides for preserving most provisions of the main draft, as well as directing the military levy to the special fund of the state budget.

At the same time, it provides for directing financial assistance received under international agreements with the EU to the special fund of the Ministry of Defense under existing programs to increase remuneration for servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and pay one-time financial assistance to servicemen, in the amount of UAH 396.8 billion, as well as for the purchase, modernization and repair of weapons, military and special equipment, ammunition and their components for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in the amount of UAH 1 trillion.

By contrast, the government draft provides for opening a separate program, the funds from which would be used to purchase equipment and machinery for other bodies of the security and defense sector.

The draft law also proposes not to reduce the Ministry of Defense’s expenditures of UAH 40 billion for the purchase, modernization and repair of military equipment, as provided for in the government draft; not to increase the state budget reserve fund by UAH 40 billion; to establish an exclusive list of areas for the use of its funds in order to prevent them from being spent on unforeseen purposes; and to make one-time payments of UAH 500,000 to contract soldiers and UAH 200,000 to mobilized personnel.