2026 state budget, once war continues, to require at least UAH 325 bln – Pidlasa
Defense spending in Ukraine’s state budget for 2026, set at UAH 2.8 trillion, was calculated at a level that does not take into account the most recent increase in defense expenditures of UAH 325 billion, which was financed with EUR 6 billion provided by the European Union from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets, said Roksolana Pidlasa, head of the parliamentary budget committee.
"Therefore, it is obvious that if the war continues throughout the entire next year, these UAH 325 billion will need to be added," she said at a discussion organized by the Centre for Economic Strategy (CES) in Kyiv on Monday, according to a correspondent of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
Pidlasa recalled that if the European Union had not allowed these EUR 6 billion to be used for defense needs, Ukraine would have faced problems financing these additional UAH 325 billion in operating expenses: payments to servicemen—both salaries and social benefits for the families of the fallen—as well as the procurement of weapons, ammunition, and drones.
"I said during the consideration of the (2026) budget in the Verkhovna Rada that the probability of amendments to this budget is 95%," emphasized the head of the Budget Committee.
She said that based on the results of the first 11 months of 2025, defense spending accounts for 63% of this year’s state budget expenditures.
"If we look a bit inside these expenditures, almost half is monetary support for servicemen: 46% in the 2026 budget. About a third of expenditures is the procurement and production of armaments specifically through the budget. Next year, this planned one-third of funds amounts to UAH 943 billion," Pidlasa added.
She noted that a novelty of the 2026 state budget is a defense reserve of UAH 200 billion, of which more than UAH 60 billion are expected revenues from de-shadowing, which are to be generated as a result of reforms by the Ministry of Finance.
According to her, the European Union's decision to provide Ukraine with an interest-free loan of EUR 90 billion in 2026-2027 is very positive, but it is still unclear how this amount will be distributed by direction.
She suggested that it could be the same EUR 6 billion, which would allow Ukraine to at least bring its national security and defense spending to the level of 2025 next year.
The head of the budget committee clarified that this year Ukraine's total defense spending is about $107 billion, and next year the Defense Ministry would like to increase it to $120 billion, compared to about $150 billion or more in Russia.