Dear colleagues! Fellow Ukrainians!

Today is the eve of Christmas.

This holiday symbolises the victory of light over darkness, the victory of good over evil. It is a holiday that gives us faith and strength to fight for truth and justice.

I congratulate every Ukrainian man and woman. I am grateful to our defenders, thanks to whom we can celebrate this Christmas with sincere faith in our victory.

Christmas holidays are always a time of care and solidarity. It is our duty to take care of people, especially those in difficult circumstances.

That is why right now, on the initiative of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, we are implementing a package of winter support programmes for every Ukrainian family.

10.3 million Ukrainians have applied for a one-time assistance of one thousand hryvnias under the Winter ePidtrymka programme.

More than 5 million have already received this assistance from the state. This is an important help for Ukrainian families and at the same time for Ukrainian businesses.

The state has allocated UAH 3.8 billion for its implementation. Thus, almost 600,000 Ukrainians will receive an additional UAH 6,500.

These are children from IDP families, families with people with disabilities, children from low-income families.

We see a huge demand for the new eKnyha programme, which is also part of Winter ePidtrymka.

More than 30,000 18-year-old Ukrainians have registered. All of them will receive UAH 908 from the state to buy Ukrainian books. More than 15 bookstore chains are partners of the programme. This will promote book publishing and spread the culture of reading among young people.

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At the same time, the Government is implementing a number of other important programmes for business.

More than 22,000 microgrants have been issued by the state to citizens to start their own businesses. This will potentially generate about 42,000 new jobs.

Almost UAH 1.2 billion in grants were issued to farmers for greenhouse farming and gardening.

We support Ukrainian business through the updated comprehensive programme “Made in Ukraine”.

We pay special attention to veteran businesses.

Already, 1,100 veterans and their families have received over UAH 500 million in grants to start and develop their businesses.

Today, the Government is adopting a resolution that makes veterans’ grants even more accessible.

We give defenders the opportunity to choose the project implementation period: three, five or seven years.

Entrepreneurs who pay taxes on the amount of the grant within the specified period will receive an additional grant payment if they wish.

Today, we are also further improving the provision of psychological assistance to veterans.

We are expanding the composition of multidisciplinary medical teams, as well as increasing the maximum amount of funds that the state reimburses to non-governmental institutions treating veterans.

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Another important area of our focus is raising financial resources.

We are completing 2024 in conditions of financial stability.

We are fully funding our Defence Forces through taxes, duties, and domestic loans.

Thanks to our partners, we cover civilian expenditures.

We have received more than EUR 16 billion from the EU under the Ukraine Facility programme. Almost USD 5.4 billion was received under the IMF cooperation programme. The programme has been revised for the sixth time, and yesterday Ukraine received a new financial tranche.

The support of the United States, the World Bank, Japan, Canada and other partners is also significant. Direct budget support alone will amount to about USD 41 billion this year.

We are grateful to all friends of Ukraine for their solidarity. This allows us to meet all our obligations in full.

Thus, in the first 11 months of 2024, more than UAH 510 billion was allocated from the state budget for social security, UAH 140 billion for the state medical guarantee programme, and UAH 163 billion for transfers to local budgets.

We clearly understand where we will get the funds next year. We expect to attract more than USD 38 billion of external financing to cover the most important non-military budget expenditures. We also expect to receive funds from frozen russian assets.

I thank all Ukrainians for their endurance, for every contribution to the great common cause of our resilience and our victory.

Thank you for your attention! Glory to Ukraine!