If international aid decreases, we will immediately face catastrophe, - Honcharenko
The situation regarding state budget funding remains challenging: there is a shortfall of 265 billion hryvnia just for military pay through the end of the year.
Oleksii Honcharenko, a member of the Verkhovna Rada from the "European Solidarity" party, spoke to Censor.NET, as reported in the article "A 'Resilience Budget' or a 'Survival Budget': Where Will Ukraine Get Its Money in 2027?"
What is known?
"First of all, we need to get a handle on the current year, because the situation is completely unclear: one moment there’s a $27 billion shortfall, the next they’re citing a different figure. We had a committee meeting today (September 22—Ed.) where the Accounting Chamber presented its report. According to their calculations, there is a shortfall of 265 billion hryvnias just for military pay through the end of the year—money that isn’t in the budget but will have to be paid out. Of course, that’s not $27 billion, but nearly six, but I want to emphasize: we’re talking about just one line item here," the lawmaker noted.
"Plus, add to that the fact that, after about eight months, the shortfall in tax revenues stands at 23 billion. This figure will now rise rapidly, because all these recent setbacks and the shutdown of the ports will have a very serious impact on revenues. The third-quarter corporate income tax payment is particularly at risk. The situation is very complex. So, of course, it’s possible to speculate about what will happen in 2027, but, I repeat, that’s very far from what we’ll ultimately end up with in reality," Honcharenko added.
According to him, it is clear that the main approach is to get more from our partners: to bring forward some of what was supposed to happen next year, or to receive some additional assistance.
"Right now, we have to view everything through a single lens—the war. Of course, we want to be optimistic, although that’s difficult to achieve. We need to end the war. If it continues next year, we must understand that we are completely dependent on external funding. If that funding doesn’t stop—or even if it just decreases—we’ll immediately face catastrophe, default, social unrest, and so on," the MP concluded.
