Ukraine's parliament announces budget amendments to increase defense spending

The Verkhovna Rada this spring will draft a bill on amendments to Ukraine's state budget, which envisages an increase in defense expenditures.

According to Ukrinform, Roksolana Pidlasa, head of the parliament's budget committee, stated this on Ukrainian television.

"Currently, defense expenditures have not decreased in any way. We have a plan to increase them. By the end of spring, there will be another draft law on changes to the state budget, in which we will approve an increase in defense expenditures," she said.

Pidlasa said that in the amendments to the budget for 2023 approved on February 24, the lawmakers included targeted grant and credit agreements for expenditures, which the government of Ukraine agreed with the authorities of other countries - Poland, Austria and the United Kingdom. Therefore, funds from the defense and social spheres were not used, she said.

On February 24, the Verkhovna Rada adopted changes to the state budget providing for the disbursement of an additional UAH 5.56 billion for a set of urgent measures to overcome the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.