Ukraine is facing a budget deficit of 15 billion dollars

According to Isna, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denis Shmigal, announced this evening, Tuesday, that the country is facing a budget deficit worth 15 billion dollars in 2025.

He said: “There is an unmet need of about 15 billion dollars for next year.”

According to the report of the Russian News agency “TASS”, Shmigal added that Kiev expects to compensate this budget deficit by receiving $50 billion from the profits from frozen Russian assets in the accounts of the G7 countries.

He also noted that Ukraine faces an urgent need to find 500 billion hryvnias (about $12.1 billion) by the end of 2024 to ensure its defense capability.

“We now have a fundamental need to raise additional money for our defense capabilities,” the Ukrainian prime minister said. This amount is hundreds of billions of hryvnias. Proposals for a tax of 500 billion hryvnias have been submitted to the parliament.

Schmigal clarified that the 500 billion hryvnias are essential expenditures allocated to defense measures and do not include funds needed to finance other government needs.

He also said that since February 2022, when the war began, Ukraine has received more than $100 billion from Western partners.

He pointed out: “We have been able to receive more than 100 billion dollars in two and a half years with the initiatives of the President (Zelensky), actions of the Parliament and the government.

Ukraine has run a record budget deficit for two consecutive years and expects to cover most of it with help from its Western partners. This budget deficit will reach 43.9 billion dollars by 2024. Meanwhile, in the West, the allocation of new aid packages comes after lengthy debates.

Earlier, the president of Ukraine, claiming that his forces are advancing on Russian soil, said that Kiev hopes that the billions of dollars earmarked for war actions will be realized.

Some of the discussed funds are supposed to be provided from the income from Russian state assets; Assets that Russia has strongly warned against any misuse, and in addition, the Kremlin considers the injection of this amount of financial resources into the Ukrainian army to prolong the war and increase the suffering of civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video speech that there have been many political announcements from Kyiv’s partners and it is expected that there will be many more. “But we need a real mechanism,” he stressed.

Ukraine has repeatedly stressed that it needs the income from frozen Russian assets to defend itself against Russia. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia emphasized today (Thursday) referring to the financial support and weapons of the West to Ukraine, that the financial injection to Kiev helps to intensify the conflict in Ukraine.

According to the ministry’s statement, “the injection of funds into the military machine of the Kiev regime will push Zelensky’s junta to further adventures, help escalate the conflict, and eliminate the possibility of a political and diplomatic solution.”

Zelensky stressed: “The relevant negotiations have been going on for a long time and we finally need to make a decision.”

Seven major Western industrialized nations, known as the Group of 7, agreed on new financial aid to Kiev at their summit in June. A generous $50 billion loan is to be financed with profits from frozen Russian assets.

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