War and borrowing: how Ukraine finances its budget deficit
3 March 21:21
The total amount of Ukraine’s state and state-guaranteed debt as of January 31, 2026, was $215 billion. Over the month, the figure increased by $1.67 billion. This was reported by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
In hryvnia terms, the debt increased by UAH 169.92 billion in January.
Debt structure
According to the Ministry of Finance, at the end of January:
- The state’s external debt was 6.94 trillion hryvnia (75.34%), or $162 billion.
- Domestic public debt — UAH 1.99 trillion (21.63%), or $46.5 billion.
- State-guaranteed debt — UAH 278.84 billion (3.03%), or USD 6.51 billion.
Thus, the bulk of the liabilities — more than three-quarters — is external debt.
Dynamics
For comparison, at the end of December 2025, the total debt amounted to $213.3 billion. At the end of 2025, the debt increased by 29.5% in hryvnia terms and by 28.4% in dollar terms compared to the end of 2024.
The growth in debt burden is occurring against the backdrop of military spending, budget deficits, and dependence on external financing.
Earlier, the government approved a public debt management strategy for 2026–2028, which provides for a balance between international assistance, domestic borrowing, and restructuring mechanisms.
