Expenditures laid in the draft state budget for 2019 for the needs of the army, security and defense sector will exceed 5% of GDP and  amount to UAH 201 billion. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman during A Question Time for the Government at the Verkhovna Rada.

"Yesterday, a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council under the chairmanship of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko was held. The Government has aired a proposal  to the NSDC to increase its defense budget by UAH 23 billion - to UAH 201 billion with the special fund. This is a huge resource, which will be allocated next year - the maximum for all periods ", Volodymyr Groysman said.

According to him, this resource is sufficient under one condition - effective, transparent use in order to ensure not only the renewal of weapons, but also raise salaries for Ukrainian soldiers.

"Expenses  will amount to  5.1% of GDP. That is, in fact, even exceeds what is envisaged by law. We expect that the recipients  - defence and law enforcement agencies will do their utmost to effectively use the resource and increase wages especially for those who protect the state during the war ", the Prime Minister underscored.