More than UAH 1.8 tn: Ukraine’s defence and security sector fully funded in 2023

Experts of the NSDC Office analysed the implementation of the Law “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2023” on the items related to national security and defence of Ukraine, and determined that it was fully implemented.

As of 31 December 2023, Ukraine’s defence and security sector agencies were 100% funded from the general fund of the state budget in the amount of UAH 1,848.5 bn.

According to the State Treasury Service of Ukraine, last year, the security and defence sector agencies actually used UAH 1,843.6 bn, or 99.7%, of the planned figures, from the general fund of the state budget. This is UAH 507.8 bn, or 38%, more than the cash expenditures of 2022.

The plan for 2023 envisaged UAH 115 bn of expenditures from the special fund of the state budget for the security and defence sector of Ukraine. As of 1 December 2023, expenditures under the special fund amounted to UAH 664.6 bn, which is 5.8 times more than planned. The volume of the special fund was exceeded due to charitable, international military and logistical assistance.

Thus, as of 31 December 2023, expenditures on the security and defence sector of Ukraine from the general and special funds of the state budget, including state guarantees, amounted to UAH 2,520.3 bn, or 39%, of the expected gross domestic product. This is UAH 982.8 bn, or 63.9%, more than in 2022. These expenditures will be updated based on the results of the annual report.

At the same time, the experts noted that the security and defence sector entities of Ukraine do not always reasonably plan the state budget expenditures necessary to meet their needs, and sometimes use budget funds inefficiently and irrationally.

The level of funding in 2023, according to the security and defence sector entities of Ukraine, made it possible to ensure funding for the main priority areas of their activities under martial law, including the purchase of material and technical resources, payment of salaries to military personnel, rank and file and police officers and additional remuneration in accordance with Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 168 dated 28 February 2022, payment of one-off financial assistance to the families of fallen servicemen and other social benefits.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was informed about the implementation of the Council’s decision.

For reference:

The previous analysis of the implementation of the Law “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2023” on the items related to the national security and defence of Ukraine has been implemented on behalf of Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Oleksii Danilov as part of the control over the implementation of the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine dated 15 September 2022 “On Proposals to the Draft Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2023”, enacted by Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 651 dated 15 September 2022.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has implemented the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine to ensure timely funding of the state budget expenditures for the security and defence sector in full in 2023.