Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence currently faces a budget deficit of $27 billion. At the same time, Ukraine expects to receive €30 billion in European funding that is to be directed towards defence.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said this during a meeting with journalists.
According to the president, at the beginning of the year, part of the funding originally planned for the second half of the year was brought forward and used for drone production and other needs.
“We currently have a $27 billion budget deficit in Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence. This is because at the beginning of the year, the ministry made decisions to effectively use funds intended for the second half of the year during the first half, and this money went towards drone production and other needs. Now, in the second half of the year, we need to compensate for this and provide additional funding. In my view, this is the main challenge,” Zelensky said.
He noted that $8–10 billion is needed to ensure a proper start to 2027, as funding must be allocated in advance to provide Ukraine with weapons and other necessary supplies in January.
In addition, according to Zelensky, nearly $20 billion is required for military salaries, payments to the families of fallen service members and other areas of expenditure.
“A lot of money is needed. I am working on this issue with the French and the Germans. Essentially, we need to bring forward the second tranche of European funding allocated to Ukraine, and this is an extremely difficult task,” Zelensky concluded.
