Ukrainian finance minister announces budget revision in parliament due to military needs

MOSCOW. June 5 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government will shortly request the Verkhovna Rada to revise the 2025 state budget due to new needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukrainian media reported, quoting Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko as saying in a speech to parliament on Thursday.

"There is a request from the defense minister to amend Ukraine's state budget law [...]. There is an understanding that the Ukrainian Armed Forces lack sufficient funds for various reasons," Marchenko said.

This is not a shortcoming, but a necessity, he said. "If you compare the budget figures that were submitted in September with those that were adopted, the figures are completely in line with last year's. But, you know, the situation cannot be predicted in a linear fashion. The situation is completely asymmetrical and sometimes requires quite complex asymmetrical solutions," Marchenko said.

At the same time, he did not specify the parameters of the budget revision.

As reported, after the crisis broke out in February 2022, Ukraine's state budget had to be revised annually to increase spending and financing due to military needs. This year, when the state budget was adopted with revenue estimated at UAH 2.33 trillion (excluding grants and international aid) and expenditures estimated at UAH 3.93 trillion, there is a need to increase expenditures by UAH 400 billion to UAH 500 billion.

The external financing needs for next year's budget are also estimated at around $39 billion, of which about half has been confirmed so far.