Prime Minister: Nearly 50% of 2023 expenditures went to defense, security

Up to 49% of Ukraine's expenditures for the first five months of 2023 were used for defense and security purposes, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on June 19.

The total sum allocated by the Cabinet of Ministers amounted to over 550 billion Hr. ($15 billion), invested in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and security services.

"We continue to direct all of citizens' and business taxes directly to fund the military to ensure our victory," Shmyhal wrote on social media.

Ukraine's parliament approved 537.2 billion Hr. ($14.6 billion) defense expenditure increase on March 21.

Budget Committee Chairman Roksolana Pidlasa said that 96.5% of the added expenditures will be directed to national security and defense sectors.

Around 518 billion Hr. ($14 billion) will be spent on food and financial support for the military, as well as the purchase of special equipment like drones.

Roughly 19 billion Hr. ($515 million) will be used to replenish the state budget's reserve fund for unforeseen and urgent measures, Pidlasa said.

The reserve fund includes at least 3 billion Hr. ($81 million) in funds that should be used for one-time monetary assistance to families of soldiers killed in combat and 2 billion Hr. ($54 million) for the construction of fortifications.

Ukraine to receive billions in military aid after Ramstein summit

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on June 15 that the U.S., the U.K., Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Norway, and Italy pledged new military aid packages to Ukraine at the 13th Ramstein-format summit of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Brussels.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek