"Protecting Ukrainian land requires protecting the people who live on it": Terekhov urged the Verkhovna Rada to increase funding for communities

Protecting Ukrainian land, the state must also protect the people who live here. This was stated by the head of the Association of Frontline Cities and Communities, Ihor Terekhov. He called on the Verkhovna Rada and the government to support the changes to the state budget proposed by APMG-2027, which foresee increased funding for communities, education, healthcare, and social protection.

The corresponding appeal was sent to the Chairman of Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk and Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi.

"This is not about creating special privileges for certain communities, but about a fair distribution of state resources according to the scale of risks, destruction, and the actual burden on local budgets," Terekhov emphasized.

One of the key proposals is to leave communities 64% of the personal income tax instead of the 60% provided for in the draft budget. This will allow approximately 18,2 billion UAH to be additionally directed to local budgets. For communities in zones of active hostilities, it is also proposed to temporarily suspend the withdrawal of funds through the reverse subsidy and to maintain compensation for tariff differentials.

APMG proposes to allocate an additional 32,3 billion UAH for education: 25 billion UAH for the educational subvention and teachers' salaries, 5 billion UAH for the wages of other education staff, 2,3 billion UAH for shelters in schools and kindergartens.

"Preserving teaching staff, educational infrastructure, and the ability for children to receive a quality education is a matter of Ukraine's strategic future," Terekhov noted.

A further 27,9 billion UAH is proposed for social protection, support for IDPs, and rehabilitation services, 1,6 billion UAH for the restoration of hospitals, protected medical facilities, and backup electricity and water supply. More than 12 billion UAH is provided for investment projects, compensation for local budget losses, and territory restoration.

The changes are proposed to be financed thanks to 95 billion UAH of additional revenues. Of these, 65 billion UAH can be raised through de-shadowing the economy, combating smuggling, and more effective tax and customs administration, another 30 billion UAH — through increasing transfers of NBU profit. The package does not provide for an increase in the budget deficit or a reduction in defense funding.

"We cannot at the same time demand resilience from frontline communities and deprive them of the resources without which that resilience is impossible. If today we do not keep people in frontline territories, tomorrow there simply will be no one for whom to rebuild these cities," Ihor Terekhov concluded.