Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi has spoken about two financial challenges that must be addressed this year: $29.5bn is at risk and a further $27bn for the defence forces remains unfunded.
The Prime Minister said this at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum, LB.ua reports.
Ukraine’s financial needs are split into two blocks: $29.5bn in confirmed macro-financial assistance programmes and a further $27bn for new needs of the defence forces.
According to Koretskyi, the first block — $29.5bn — is confirmed under the Ukrainian Support Loan and the Ukraine Facility macro-financial assistance programmes, and responsibility for securing it lies with the government and parliament.
“On finances. We have two blocks of issues. The first is $29.5bn, which is confirmed under macro-financial assistance programmes — the Ukrainian Support Loan and the Ukraine Facility. They need to be delivered, and there are two points of responsibility — parliament and the government,” the Prime Minister said.
He said the government must finalise 42 documents — resolutions and decisions of the government and government authorities — and also submit to parliament the draft laws required to receive the funds.
In parliament, he said, a further 27 draft laws are currently awaiting adoption.
“The government must finish everything that was not finished this year — and a lot has accumulated, unfortunately. That is 42 different documents: resolutions and the relevant decisions of the government and government authorities. And submit to parliament the laws that are needed for a vote and to receive those funds. But in parliament there are already 27 draft laws that need to be adopted by parliament. Unfortunately, this work is still imperfect,” Koretskyi noted.
The Prime Minister promised that the government would complete its part of the work by mid-October.
“I guarantee on behalf of the government that we will resolve our homework and the accumulated problems during September and the first ten days — possibly the first half — of October. All laws will be submitted immediately in September, and all Cabinet decisions and resolutions will be completed by 15 October. Although we promised by 1 November — it’s just that too much has built up,” he said.
At the same time, Koretskyi criticised the pace of parliament’s work and urged MPs to vote for the necessary laws regardless of political views or ratings.
“But parliament, unfortunately, is not yet showing the same level of commitment, and once again I appeal to all parliamentarians, regardless of political views, regardless of ratings, perhaps some popular or unpopular decisions. This should simply be an instinct — the country’s self-preservation. And these laws must be voted through,” the Prime Minister stressed.
He said the government is ready to work with parliament in working groups on every wording of the draft laws.
“And we, as the government, are 100% ready to be useful to parliament — in working groups to discuss every word, every piece of wording, in order to be as accommodating as possible and meet halfway. But it needs to be voted through. So the $29.5bn is confirmed under programmes, but there is a certain risk of receiving it due to the factors mentioned above,” Koretskyi said.
The second block of financial needs, the Prime Minister said, amounts to $27bn — a new requirement for Ukraine’s Defence Forces.
“The second part is $27bn. This is a new requirement of Ukraine’s Defence Forces. That includes all Special Operations Forces, the Security Service of Ukraine, border guards, the National Guard and, of course, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. That is the main challenge,” he noted.
Among possible sources to cover this amount, Koretskyi cited “accelerating the Ukrainian Support Loan. We are talking with European partners. Using, in one way or another, frozen Russian assets. Additional loans — not grants, but loans — from partners outside the European Union. Optimising all possible spending within the Ukrainian budget. And all of this together should make it possible to cover, if not the full $27bn, then at least the lion’s share of these costs,” Koretskyi concluded.