Aware of $27 billion ’shortfall’, money was spent on marathon and cashback – Zhelezniak put four questions to Zelenskyy regarding funding shortfall for Armed Forces of Ukraine
In Ukraine, the funding shortfall for the Armed Forces has reached 27 billion dollars, and the funds allocated to the Ministry of Defence have already been exhausted. Due to this ‘hole’ in the budget, questions are being raised with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regarding the inefficient spending of public funds and the failure to meet commitments to the EU.
This was posted on Facebook by Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a Member of Parliament for the "Voice" party, as reported by Censor.NET.
Budget shortfall
"We are indeed currently short of $27 billion (possibly more). This is absolutely true," the MP writes.
Questions for Zelenskyy
He then poses four public questions to both the President and his MPs:
"What’s new about this? When we voted on both the 2026 Budget and its amendment, I and other colleagues spoke openly about this. That there’s a shortfall and it’s unrealistic. Especially regarding military salaries," the MP recalls.
"How, knowing about this problem, could money have been spent on a marathon, an e-tank, cashback, handouts of 1,500 hryvnias and even the ‘thousand-hryvnia’ spring scheme???" he continues.
"Who will bear personal responsibility for the fact that we have now failed to meet our EU commitments to the tune of almost 8 billion euros? And we won’t be receiving that money," adds Zhelezniak.
"Who will be held accountable for the Law Enforcement Committee’s decision to reject no fewer than five laws at once, to which funding is tied (including this year’s)?" he asks.
In Zhelezniak’s view, the president should answer these questions. Rather than coming out at the end of the third quarter of the year and saying that they have suddenly realised there is a $27 billion shortfall.
What led up to this?
Earlier, Zelenskyy reported that the funding shortfall for the Defence Forces stands at $27 billion, and that the Ministry of Defence had used up the allocated funds.
