Ukraine's parliament adopts law increasing defense spending by UAH 500B

The Verkhovna Rada has adopted a law increasing state budget expenditures by UAH 537.2 billion, with 96.5% of the amount to be spent on Ukraine's national security and defense sector.

Roksolana Pidlasa, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Budget Issues, said this in a post on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

Bill No. 9105, which was adopted as a whole, stipulates that UAH 518 billion will be spent on defense (financial support for the military, food, and the production and purchase of special equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles) and UAH 19 billion will be used to replenish the reserve fund of the state budget.

The law also stipulates that the funds of the reserve fund must be used for the payment of one-time cash assistance to the families of fallen service members (at least UAH 3 billion in 2023) and for the construction of fortifications (at least UAH 2 billion).

In the first two months of 2023, expenditures of the general fund of the state budget reached UAH 411.1 billion, and more than a third of them (UAH 148.7 billion) were funds for the maintenance of military personnel.