Ukraine’s parliamentary committee add tweaks to draft of 2025 state budget
Source: Roksolana Pidlas, Budget Committee Chair
The Ukrainian Parliament’s budget committee has approved the draft 2025 state budget for a second reading, but added some amendments. The re-write will see such things like:
- Kyiv will receive a $2 billion (approximately 90 billion hryvnias) loan from the United Kingdom to finance military expenses, including weapons procurement – these funds will be allocated to a special foreign borrowing fund for the Ministry of Defense.
- Local Budget Funding changes assume that
- Communities retain 4% of the personal income tax (excluding military tax), securing 64% of local budget revenues to cover utility and energy costs.
- A subsidy of 12.2 billion hryvnias has been removed meaning regional budgets have to figure out how to offset tariff differences
- Frontline communities will be exempt from transferring reverse subsidies.
- “Ukrzaliznytsia” will get 128 million hryvnias to co-finance a European project for railway infrastructure development.
- The National Academy of Sciences will receive an additional 277.1 million hryvnias, with a share of it earmarked for military research projects.
- Political parties will no longer be allowed to purchase domestic government military bonds.
- Hospital Requirements. The government will drop the earlier introduced obligation for hospitals to keep funds exclusively in Treasury accounts.
The remaining provisions of the draft budget remain unchanged and align with the government’s original proposals. The document now awaits a vote in the parliamentary session for the second reading and final approval.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.
Rinat Akhmetov’s Metinvest Group has completed the construction of an upgraded underground NATO Role 2 hospital in one of the hottest sectors of the frontline. This is the second stabilization point established under the Steel Front initiative in cooperation with the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The new facility, funded by Metinvest with an investment of UAH 21 million, is more secure than the first one thanks to its deeper location underground (over 6 meters) and additional fortifications.
Five armored vehicles “Kozak” have received a new mission – thanks to the support of Metinvest, they have been upgraded to full-fledged command and staff vehicles. These upgraded vehicles are now operating on the front line.
A kamikaze drone flies directly toward an armored personnel carrier. But instead of penetrating the hull, it explodes on a steel screen. The crew survives. This is the new reality for Ukrainian forces, who have received enhanced protection thanks to the Metinvest project within “Steel Front of Rinat Akhmetov”.
To commemorate the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion, “Bukvy” has compiled data on the largest donors supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Among them there are charitable foundations and businesses. The list includes, in particular, foundations that provide assistance exclusively from their own resources, without fundraising (such as SCM by Rinat Akhmetov, Epicenter, etc.).