Ukraine is expected to allocate a new record-high Hr 209.5 billion ($7.45 billion) on defense and security in 2019 – an increase of 21.1 percent compared to the previous fiscal year, which also saw record defense spending.
The new defense budget will probably reach approximately 5.9 percent of the country’s estimated gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, which is forecast at $126.7 billion by the International Monetary Fund.
According to the recently approved law on national security and the country’s revised military doctrine, aimed at countering Russian aggression, the overall annual defense spending should be at least 5 percent of the country’s estimated GDP, including 3 percent for the Armed Forces alone.
The new draft law on the state budget for 2019 submitted to the Verkhovna Rada on Sept. 15, promises record-high spending on each of the country’s principal defense and security bodies.
In particular, the Ministry of Defense is expected to get Hr 101.4 ($3.6 billion), increasing its budget by 15 percent compared to the Hr 86 billion ($3 billion) it had to spend this year. Most of these funds (Hr 81.6 or $2 billion) are to be spent on army training, maintenance, medical support, and on veterans care.
Hr 16.9 billion is planned for equipment and weapons, and over half a billion ($18 million) is to be allocated to ensure the security of the army’s munitions depots, several of which have suffered massive explosions and fires in recent years.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry is to get Hr 82.3 billion ($2.9 billion), which is also an increase of approximately 20 percent compared to 2018.
The ministry’s spending plan next year envisages Hr 29.5 billion ($1 billion) for the National Police, Hr 12.4 billion ($440 million) for the National Guard, and Hr 10.8 billion ($380 million) for the State Border Service.
All of the country’s spy agencies will also enjoy increased budgets: Hr 2.7 billion ($96 million) for the Chief Directorate of Intelligence, the main military intelligence body subordinated to the Ministry of Defense, Hr 9.4 billion ($330 million) for the SBU security service, and nearly Hr 2 billion ($71 million) for the Foreign Intelligence Service.
Besides, the draft bill also proposes to allocate Hr 161.1 million ($5.7 million) to the Ministry of Social Policy’s veterans care agency, which goes against the parliament’s plans to establish a brand new Ministry of Veteran Affairs starting from 2019 and to provide financing for the body with the new budget.
However, the new defense budget for 2019 is in many respects in line with the decree of Ukraine’s Defense and Security Council signed into effect by President Petro Poroshenko late on Sept. 14. In particular, the decree envisages an increase in payments for military personnel of at least 30 percent.
The minimum monthly wage for a contracted solder would thus rise to Hr 10,000 ($355) while for a police officer or an emergency rescuer it would be and at least Hr 9,000.
The decree also emphasizes that the purchase of high-precision missile weaponry, armored vehicles, and munitions, as well as the establishment of firing ranges for munitions tests, are to be high-priority spending items in the new defense budget.
