Ukrainian parliament allocates additional $8 billion to defense

During the Friday plenary meeting, the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, adopted a bill increasing state budget expenditures for defense by ₴298 billion ($8.1 billion).

Yaroslav Zhelezniak, the first deputy of the parliament's tax committee, announced that the majority of MPs — 313 officials — voted in favor of the bill in the second reading.

The adopted draft law provides for expenses for the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service, Defense Intelligence and Foreign Intelligence Service, State Security, and Economic Security Bureau.

"These changes set two records in the history of Ukraine," said Zhelezniak. "For the first time, general budget expenditures will exceed ₴3.39 trillion, and the deficit will exceed ₴2 trillion." 

In mid-September, the Ukrainian parliament's budget committee supported draft law No. 10038, which revised the 2023 state budget. Later, the Verkhovna Rada supported the bill in the first reading.

As Rubryka reported, the Ukrainian government approved the state budget program for 2024 by September 15 this year and submitted the bill to the parliament.