The Verkhovna Rada has paved the way for the allocation of 1.56 trillion hryvnia for defense in 2026
18 June 16:14
The Verkhovna Rada did not support seven blocking motions to cancel the second-reading vote and the final vote on Bill No. 15224 regarding amendments to the 2026 state budget to increase spending by 1,56 trillion hryvnia for the security and defense sector, thereby clearing the way for Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk to sign the law, reports "Komersant Ukrainian", citing “Interfax-Ukraine.”
During an extraordinary session of parliament on Thursday, June 18, none of the seven motions to repeal the law received the necessary number of votes—with a required minimum of 226 votes, the motions received between 18 and 24 votes.
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The initiators of the blocking resolutions are Anna Skorokhod (“European Solidarity”), Iryna Gerashchenko (co-chair of the “European Solidarity” faction), Artur Gerasimov (co-chair of the “European Solidarity” faction), Nina Yuzhanina (“European Solidarity”), Maria Yunova, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze (“European Solidarity”), and Sofia Fedina (“European Solidarity”).
The initiators of the blocking resolutions believe that the funds allocated to the reserve fund will be spent by the government without a specific purpose. They also drew attention to the financial support for the military, for which, according to the initiators of the resolutions, there are no funds.
Nina Yuzhanina also cited data from the Accounting Chamber’s report for the first quarter of 2026 and noted that the report contains observations regarding the government’s actions and points to the need to streamline spending priorities and the impermissibility of spending funds from the state budget’s reserve fund in the manner planned by the government.
Commenting on the blocking resolutions, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (the “Holos” faction) noted that the government is currently continuing the “National Cashback” program and spending funds on it, yet there remains a shortfall in funding for military pay raises and army reforms.
Speaker of the Rada Stefanchuk noted that repealing the law could have led to a delay in receiving financial assistance from the European Union, which, in turn, would have had a negative impact on meeting the needs of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, in particular, regarding the ability to maintain a high rate of engaging enemy forces and unmanned systems at medium and long ranges, as well as the suspension by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine of contracts for certain types of weapons and military equipment due to the lack of corresponding key budget allocations.
Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk immediately signed the law. It will now be sent to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his signature.
As previously reported, the Verkhovna Rada approved the draft law in its second reading and as a whole on June 10, with 242 members of parliament voting in favor.
The document provides for an increase in spending on the security and defense sector by 1.56 trillion hryvnias, to be funded primarily through the Ukraine Support Loan (USL) from the European Union.
The law was approved taking into account the preliminary allocation of over 1.3 billion hryvnias from the Reserve Fund: 559.1 million hryvnias for the Ministry of Energy’s administrative apparatus, 127.5 million hryvnias for mine closure, 46.1 million UAH for the State Energy Supervision Service, and 599.1 million UAH for the State Agency for the Management of the Exclusion Zone (of which 525.1 million UAH is earmarked for the “Shelter” facility). Also approved was the allocation of 95 million UAH to the National Committee for Sports for People with Disabilities, 1.4 billion UAH for payments to the Judicial Security Service and to cover NABU salaries based on the subsistence minimum of 3,328 UAH instead of 3,028 UAH, without changing the bureau’s overall expenditures.
As Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko noted, following the amendments, spending on security and defense will reach a record 4.4 trillion UAH: 2.3 trillion UAH will be allocated for the procurement of weapons and military equipment, and over 1.45 trillion UAH will go toward military pay.
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