In the first nine months of this year, UAH 1.9 trillion was paid into the state budget’s general fund, excluding international grants.
The plan fell short by UAH 49.5 billion, with almost two thirds of that amount — UAH 32bn — missing specifically in August and September, said the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Budget Roksolana Podlasa.
According to her, the main reason for the decline in revenues was Russia’s continued strikes on businesses. The largest tax shortfalls were recorded in import VAT (UAH 35.7bn), VAT on goods produced in Ukraine (UAH 32.9bn), domestic excise duty (UAH 19.1bn) and dividends from state-owned enterprises (UAH 10.8bn). Overall, the plan for the main taxes was missed by UAH 99bn, although this was partly offset by overperformance in corporate profit tax and personal income tax.
Podlasa said that the main sources of budget revenue remain import VAT (UAH 491bn), profit tax (UAH 270bn), personal income tax and the military levy (UAH 266.3bn), and VAT on Ukrainian goods (UAH 255.2bn). In addition, UAH 350.6bn from the sale of domestic government bonds was channelled into the general fund, while international assistance for expenditure totalled about $22bn.
Defence remains the largest spending item — UAH 2 trillion, accounting for 61.3% of all general fund expenditure. Significant sums were also spent on debt repayment and servicing, social protection, healthcare and teachers’ salaries. Podlasa stressed that the budget situation will remain critical until the second tranche of EU macro-financial assistance worth $4.26bn is received.
- On 1 October, it became known that the European Commission and Ukraine had found a solution to fully cover our country’s budgetary and defence needs for 2026.
- As is known, this year the Ministry of Defence’s budget deficit stands at $27bn. At the start of the year, the ministry decided to use funds planned for the second half of the year. They were spent on drones and other needs.
- In 2027, Ukraine’s need for external financing will reach $52.6bn, Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said during a meeting of the Ukrainian Donor Platform in Brussels.