Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Ukrainian arms manufacturers delivered equipment to the military under the eBali system but have been unable to collect payment for months. Debt owed to some enterprises ranges from 24 million to several hundred million hryvnias.
The debt is critical primarily for smaller businesses. According to Fedirko, the problem affects all deliveries under eBali. For the largest market players, a delay of one to two million dollars is an unpleasant but manageable cash gap. For small companies, however, these funds are intended for salaries, components, and production of the next batches of equipment — some of them are already having trouble paying wages. Funding, Fedirko says, is currently awaiting approval from the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence. Within the Ministry of Defense, this area is handled by the Department for Capability Development and Defense Technologies (DRSOT) — formerly DVTP. Where the new approval requirement came from: on 10 June, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 4908-IX, and on 24 June amendments to Article 28 of the Law on the State Budget for 2026 took effect. The proportions for distributing the military personal income tax remained unchanged: 60% goes to the Ministry of Defense, 30% to the State Service of Special Communications, and another 10% is automatically sent directly to military units. However, a new requirement appeared: the directions for using 60% by the MoD and 30% by the State Service of Special Communications must now be approved by the Rada’s defense committee. Fedirko clarifies that the committee does not approve every payment or individual delivery, but the general directions for using funds — yet because eBali are financed from the Ministry of Defense’s share, this area also fell under the approval requirement. The provision that automatic 10% for military units is untouched was not affected by this requirement. According to Fedirko, that provision was not in the bill’s first draft — it appeared during preparation of the document for the second reading, and the law does not set any deadline within which the committee must provide approval. He notes that the law, which was supposed to increase funding for the security and defense sector by 1,56 trillion hryvnias, simultaneously created an additional layer of approvals, through which some defense companies now do not receive payment. Fedirko addressed the Ministry of Defense, DRSOT, and the parliament’s relevant committee with questions: when the documents regarding eBali funding were sent for approval, whether the committee received the full package, and when manufacturers will finally receive the funds due to them. Read also: Zhumadilov officially leaves the post of head of the Defense Procurement Agency
Problems with funding defense procurements The Ukrainian Weapons Council has raised this issue more than once this summer. In mid-August, Ihor Fedirko warned that delays in signing new contracts due to the Ministry of Defense’s shift to tender procedures could result in an arms shortage at the front within a few months. At that time, the contract disruptions were caused by the absence of technical specifications approved by the General Staff, without which the Defense Procurement Agency could not physically announce tenders. At the end of August, the Weapons Council explained that responsibility for developing technical specifications lies not with centers of competence but directly with the General Staff — and already the next day after Fedirko’s public statement, almost magically, 80–85% of the previously missing specifications appeared, and some of the delayed contracts were signed.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "У Раді зброярів заявили про масову затримку виплат виробникам зброї за єБалами". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: RBC-Ukraine.