Poroshenko slams 2025 state budget: “It doesn’t align with Zelenskyy’s resilience plan”
Source: Petro Poroshenko/Telegram
The 2025 state budget approved by the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday caught flak from former Ukrainian president and opposition leader Petro Poroshenko who argued the financial plan is failing to address the priorities of a nation at war.
The former president said, “This budget was supposed to be a budget of victory. How can you talk about victory when defense spending hasn’t increased by a single hryvnia? Instead of raising salaries for soldiers, you’re boosting pay for prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement officials. Where is the courage to oppose this?”
He is argued that the decision to allocate 1.5 billion hryvnias for the national TV marathon and a 1,000-hryvnia allowance program as politically motivated.
“If we are moving toward [joining] Europe, we should heed the EU’s expansion report, which calls for eliminating funding for propaganda TV marathons. And this 1,000 hryvnias—bribing every Ukrainian—is nothing but electioneering in disguise. Ukrainians don’t take bribes,” Poroshenko said.
The 2025 budget projects revenue at 2.336 trillion hryvnias, expenditures at 3.938 trillion hryvnias (a 19% increase compared to 2024), a deficit of 1.546 trillion hryvnias (19.4% of GDP, slightly down from 20.6% in 2024), external financing of $38.823 billion, GDP growth of 2.7%, and an exchange rate of 45 hryvnias per USD.
Spending priorities include defense and security at 2.223 trillion hryvnias (26.3% of GDP), social protection at 419.2 billion hryvnias, healthcare at 210.7 billion hryvnias, education at 169.3 billion hryvnias, culture and media at 9.6 billion hryvnias, pensions at 237.9 billion hryvnias, and support for war veterans at 5.8 billion hryvnias.
Military and security spending increases include the Ministry of Defense at 34.7%, military intelligence at 37.3%, and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) at 18.8%.
The minimum wage and living wage will remain at 2024 levels, with the average monthly salary projected to reach 24,000 hryvnias.
Amendments to Ukraine’s enforcement proceedings legislation, initiated by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, have entered into force. Among other measures, the reform provides for the automated lifting of attachments on bank accounts immediately after debts in enforcement proceedings have been fully settled. The main practical benefit for citizens is the complete elimination of the need to contact an enforcement officer in person and wait for paper decisions once the debt has been paid.
The 157th Separate Mechanized Brigade has received another batch of supplies as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative. This time, the military received seven quad bikes and four mobile shower and bath units.
In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.
Petro Poroshenko’s lawyers have appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding that NABU be obligated to register proceedings regarding the fact of exerting influence on the court and to recognize Petro Poroshenko as a victim in the case of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, due to her pressure on Supreme Court judges who were considering a lawsuit to overturn sanctions.
Internationally recognized brands and financial institutions should direct capital to Ukraine now, not waiting for the hostilities to end. This was emphasized by Rinat Akhmetov, president of FC Shakhtar, during a working visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where he met with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.