Ukraine’s public finances remain under pressure due to delays in receiving part of the international financing that had been planned.
According to Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi, Ukraine has, in particular, been unable to fulfil some of the commitments it made to international partners on time.
“Under these circumstances, we continue to take tough anti-crisis measures to ensure funding for what matters most — our defence needs and our people. Today, the government adopted a decision establishing priorities for public spending,” Koretskyi said.
According to him, priority will be given to financing defence, pensions and social benefits, as well as salaries for teachers, doctors and other public-sector employees.
At the same time, the government is postponing spending that is not considered urgent. This includes new construction, reconstruction and major repairs that are not critically important, as well as improvements to parks and public gardens, fountains and the replacement of paving stones.
“We will certainly do all of this, but for now all resources must be directed towards critically important areas. It is time to stop spending money on things that are not priorities,” Koretskyi stressed.
The government also called on local authorities to establish priorities in their own budgets and limit spending that is currently not essential.
“We call on local governments to similarly determine priorities in their budgets and restrict expenditures that are not currently urgent,” Koretskyi said.
He added that the government, together with parliament, is working to fulfil Ukraine’s commitments and secure the planned international financing.
