Ukraine plans to spend UAH 245.8 bln on defense and security in 2020

He said this during the presentation of Ukraine's draft state budget for 2020 for the second reading on Tuesday, according to Ukrinform.

"The draft budget for 2020 stipulates that the Defense Ministry's budget will be the largest since Ukraine's independence. 5.45% of the projected GDP is allocated for security and defense – this is UAH 245.8 billion. 3% of GDP, or UAH 136 billion, is allocated for defense," Zahorodniuk said.

He noted that the ministry's budget consists of expenditures on the ministry itself - UAH 116.1 billion, and in 2019 it was UAH 102 billion - as well as state guarantees for the purchase of weapons and military equipment – UAH 9 billion, and in 2019 it was UAH 3 billion.

The budget of the state special transport service, which is mainly used for the construction of infrastructure and housing for servicemen, is UAH 1.4 billion, whereas in 2019 it was UAH 0.8 billion. UAH 3.5 billion is also envisaged in the budget for the main intelligence department.

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