The absolute priority in the budget is security and defence. About half of the state budget will be spent on these areas. This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at a Government session on 14 July.

According to the Head of Government, in the first half of the year revenues to various funds of the state budget totalled UAH 1.302 trillion, while expenditures amounted to UAH 1.784 trillion.

“The second largest expenditure is on social support programmes. In the first six months of this year, UAH 231 billion was allocated from the state budget for social payments. Of this, UAH 136 billion was spent on pensions and support for the Pension Fund. We have paid out UAH 23.1 billion in subsidies. As we promised, we are fulfilling all our social obligations,” said Denys Shmyhal.

In addition to the army, security and social payments, the main areas of spending in the first half of the year were healthcare, education and support for the regions, the Prime Minister stressed.

“In the first quarter of this year we managed to ensure the average salary of doctors at the level of almost UAH 22,000. Over the past six months, more than UAH 56 billion has been spent on educational subsidies for the regions alone. Of this amount, UAH 900 million has already been allocated for equipping schools with bomb shelters and another UAH 600 million for the purchase of new school buses,” the Head of Government said.

According to the Prime Minister, the total amount of subventions to the regions during this period has reached UAH 92 billion. At the same time, local budget revenues have increased significantly. In the first half of 2023, the general fund of local budgets received almost UAH 218 billion. This is UAH 42.5 billion more than last year.

The balances on the accounts of local budgets and budgetary institutions have already reached UAH 170 billion. Denys Shmyhal emphasised that there were enough funds on the ground, in particular to support local utilities and not to raise tariffs.