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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Ukraine needs an additional $27 billion to fund the Defense Forces, and the government together with international partners is looking for sources to cover these expenses. This was stated by Ukraine’s Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi during the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference organized by the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation, reports a correspondent for Hlavkom.
According to Koretskyi, this concerns not only the needs of the Ministry of Defense but funding for all components of Ukraine’s Defense Forces — the Special Operations Forces, the SBU, the State Border Guard Service, the National Guard, and the Ministry of Defense. “The second part is $27 billion. This is a new requirement of Ukraine’s Defense Forces. It includes all services: the Special Operations Forces, the SBU, the border guards, the National Guard and, of course, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine,” the prime minister said.
Koretskyi called finding sources to finance this amount one of the government’s main challenges. “That is the main challenge — what the sources of coverage are,” Koretskyi said.
According to the head of government, Ukraine is negotiating with European partners on possible financing mechanisms, including the use of frozen Russian assets. The possibility of obtaining additional loans from partners outside the European Union is also being considered. Among other options, Koretskyi named optimization of state expenditures.
“We are talking with European partners, using frozen Russian assets one way or another, additional loans — not grants, but loans — from partners who are outside the European Union, optimization of all possible expenditures within the Ukrainian budget,” the prime minister said.
He said that the combination of these sources should allow Ukraine to cover at least the larger part of the additional need. “All this together should make it possible to cover, if not the full $27 billion, then at least the lion’s share of these expenses,” Koretskyi emphasized.
At the same time, the prime minister spoke about the risks of mobilizing another $29,5 billion of international financing that is already confirmed by the relevant programs. According to Koretskyi, to receive these funds the government and parliament must fulfill a number of obligations. The head of government said that the cabinet must finalize 42 documents, decrees, and decisions, and also submit the necessary bills to parliament.
“I guarantee on behalf of the government that we will complete our homework and resolve the accumulated problems during September and the first deca, possibly the first half of October,” the prime minister said. He also called on the Verkhovna Rada to adopt 27 bills necessary to receive international financing.
As reported, Ukraine has a defense funding shortfall of $27 billion. The Ministry of Defense has already developed several options that should help cover this need.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ministry of Defense budget deficit amounts to $27 billion. According to the president, at the beginning of the year part of the funds earmarked for the second half of 2026 of the year were redirected ahead of schedule to drone production and other defense needs. These expenditures now need to be compensated.
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