The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine’s Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence has explained the situation surrounding delays in payments to defence companies under the “eBaly” programme. This is stated in a Facebook post by the Committee.
This happened because amendments to Article 28 of the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026” have been in force since 24 June 2026. Under these changes, the intended uses of certain budget funds must be agreed by the Ministry of Defence and the Administration of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection with the relevant parliamentary committee.
The Committee clarified that this concerns approval of the directions for using the funds, not approval of each individual procurement, contract or payment.
According to the Committee, after the relevant provision entered into force its representatives repeatedly contacted the Ministry of Defence. The issue was raised, in particular, at Committee meetings and working meetings with the Ministry’s leadership.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defence’s letter seeking approval for the directions for using funds from military personal income tax was received by the Committee only on 10 September 2026. The Committee noted that this was more than two and a half months after the legislative changes took effect.
After receiving the necessary materials, the Committee plans to consider the matter at its next meeting as a priority. It said it intends to complete the approval procedure предусмотрену by law as quickly as possible.
Separately, the Committee stressed that funding for the “eBaly” programme is not provided exclusively from military personal income tax. The relevant expenditure is also предусмотрено under other budget programmes and line items of the Ministry of Defence. Therefore, not all funds used to finance “eBaly” fall under the approval procedure introduced by the amendments to the state budget.
What preceded this
According to comments by Ihor Fedirko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Council of Gunsmiths, defence companies have already delivered products under the eBaly system but cannot receive payment for them. According to his information, arrears owed to some companies range from UAH 24 million to hundreds of millions of hryvnias. Fedirko also notes that this situation arose due to changes to Article 28.
Fedirko adds that the delays are particularly acute for small manufacturers, for whom such sums are critical for paying wages, purchasing components and continuing production. He says some companies have already encountered problems paying staff. The publication “Militarnyi” reported that some Ukrainian defence companies have already stopped accepting new orders through “eBaly” amid delayed payment for military products previously delivered to the armed forces.
As Fedirko explains, the “eBaly” programme is financed, among other things, from the Ministry of Defence’s share of personal income tax (which is 60%), so the relevant direction for using the funds also requires the Committee’s approval. At the same time, he says the law does not specify a timeframe within which the Committee must provide such approval.
“An important clarification: the Committee does not approve every accrual and not every individual delivery, but the general directions for using the funds. Since eBaly is financed from the Ministry of Defence’s share, this direction also fell under approval. What a relief that the 10% automatically directed to military units was not affected by the new requirement. This provision was not in the first version of the bill. It appeared during preparation of the document for the second reading. At the same time, the law sets no deadline within which the Committee must grant approval,” he said.
What the Ministry of Defence says
The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine said that the “eBaly” programme remains a valid mechanism for supplying combat units, and that funding is предусмотрене through to the end of the year. Some delays in settlements with manufacturers are linked to procedures for refinancing the programme using EU loan funds.
The Ministry of Defence stressed that all payments due to manufacturers for equipment already delivered will be made. At the same time, the ведомство explained that certain technical delays are linked, among other things, to plans to refinance the programme using European Union loan funds. This requires additional procedures. Planned changes to the points-based system are also envisaged.
The Ministry of Defence said it is working constructively with the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence on the дальнейшая implementation of the programme.