Military fee and other taxes should increase: what is in the 2025 budget

However, according to a number of deputies, the budget for 2025 poorly takes into account the key priorities outlined by the President to strengthen the country's sustainability. This is stated in the material of the Air Force. The budget discussion was very emotional, but Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko urged the deputies to support the document, emphasizing the importance of its adoption "despite acute political differences".

In the second reading, the budget project has undergone minimal changes. For example, it still does not provide an increase in social standards: the subsistence minimum and the minimum wage will remain frozen in 2025. The key expenditure item is safety and defense, which is planned to allocate more than UAH 2. 2 trillion, which is more than half of all budget expenditures, the total volume of which is approaching UAH 4 trillion.

But before the second reading, the general fund expenditures were increased by UAH 50 billion - to UAH 3. 709 trillion. "We have focused on priority: providing defense, social support for the population and creating opportunities for restoration of the economy," said Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko. The official noted that the budget for the next year is given as realistic and balanced. A similar position was expressed by the chairman of the parliamentary committee on the budget of Ruslan Pidlas.

However, some critics express doubts, pointing to the contradiction in the budget project for 2025. One of the main intrigues of the budget for the next year was the increase in the taxes provided in its formation. However, the President has not yet signed the corresponding bill, which the deputies approved in October. "He went to the Parliament's website - not a tax bill. He opened the budget - and there it is taken into account).

In the text it is written)))), - wrote in social networks a member of the Financial Committee of Parliament, a deputy from opposition" Voice "Yaroslav Zheleznyak. Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, speaking in parliament during the budget discussion, said it was planned to receive UAH 141 billion in revenues by raising taxes.

At the same time, Olga Vasilevskaya-Smaglyuk, a member of the financial committee and a representative of the "servant of the people", earlier noted that without increasing taxes it would be difficult to find funds to cover the UAH 120 billion in budget, intended for financing the defense forces. She stressed that without these measures, the budget may be unbalanced.

"We need to take 120 billion somewhere, which are already in the budget project, provided for the army, but not backed up by increased taxes," - explained the People's Deputy on TV. At the same time, business perceives an increase in military levy and additional tax burden as a deterioration of the already difficult conditions of work in Ukraine during the war.

Viewers suggest that this can lead to a return of part of salaries to the shadows, reducing investment activity and slowing down the economy. It is noteworthy that in October, when the Parliament approved the law on raising taxes, the Ministry of Economy showed slowdown in GDP growth to 1. 3% against 3. 8% in September, that is, three times.

Almost half of the 2025 expenditures added to the budget - UAH 24 billion - will go to education - 12 billion is assigned to teachers and investment projects in the educational sphere (in particular, UAH 6. 2 billion for bombos in schools). In addition, UAH 6. 3 billion increased medicine expenditures. They also added UAH 5 billion to support veterans. More than UAH 1. 4 billion has increased the expenditures of the Ministry of Social Policy.

The lion's share - UAH 1 billion - will help to help internally displaced persons. UAH 3 billion was allocated for compensation for destroyed housing, and UAH 1 billion was allocated for damages for damaged property. (According to experts, at the beginning of 2024 the total losses of the housing stock amounted to about $ 60 billion). In addition, the state budget project provides 1 billion UAH to support livestock and processing of agricultural products.

Also, UAH 1 billion is planned for the implementation of investment projects through the State Regional Development Fund and restoration work in Kharkiv. The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications allocated an additional UAH 488. 4 million, of which UAH 200 million was allocated for strategic communications projects and promoting a positive image of Ukraine abroad.

It also provides UAH 150 million to support Ukrainians abroad and to promote their return to their homeland through the work of the Unity of Ukrainians at the Ministry of Economy. The National Academy of Sciences has allocated UAH 277 million in addition to conducting defense research. And Ukrzaliznytsia will receive 128 million UAH for co -financing the European project of railway infrastructure development, which is a prerequisite for providing European funds.

Some of the amendments to the final budget option were made by deputies next year. Among them, as reported by the head of the budget committee Ruslan Pidlas, the decision not to transfer hospitals to treasury services, which was criticized as not in line with medical reform and perceived as a refusal of "money to go for a patient". In addition, the deputies decided to remove the norm on the possibility of parties to buy military government bonds.

The budget for 2025 decided to stop the funding of the road fund, which caused criticism after the first reading of the document. This decision made it possible to increase the revenues of the general budget fund by UAH 50 billion, while the expenditures of the special fund have decreased by more than UAH 47 billion, much of which was intended for the road fund.

However, for the repair of roads that are important for the defense and economy of the country, the state budget project provides UAH 12. 6 billion. According to the Ministry of Finance, funds in the amount of UAH 43. 2 billion, which were previously referred to a special fund in support of the State Road Fund, have now been completely transferred to the total budget.

At the same time, as Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the Financial Committee and a MP of the European Solidarity, reminded that the Government promised that all the road fund funds would be directed to the Armed Forces, but in fact there was an increase in the funding of road projects by UAH 1. 2 billion.

"In particular, from these funds, 24 billion go to repay the debts for" large construction ", which makes the roads priority, despite the promises to direct these resources for the needs of defense," Nina Yuzhanina said at a briefing. By the second reading, the government reduced the financing of the Prosecutor General's Office - by UAH 1. 2 billion. Most of these funds will go to financing the Ministry of Defense and GUR.

However, according to Nina Yuzhanina, there was a substitution of concepts: while the government promised not to increase the salaries of prosecutors, they will still increase, simply growth will be less than UAH 1. 2 billion. In addition, as a representative of "European Solidarity" Irina Gerashchenko, expenditures that go on a general article for safety and defense, are often redistributed in favor of security officers, not the military.

"It is abnormal, when the cost of bebb, the prosecutor's office, the Accounting Chamber, when there are not enough drones on the front, and in peaceful cities problems with air defense. The 2025 budget is not the first military budget of Ukraine. But the first, in which funds from Western partners can go to defense - through a special fund.

In particular, it is about $ 2 billion (90 billion UAH) of credit funds that should be received from the Ukrainian budget from the United Kingdom to cover military expenditures, namely the purchase of weapons. They will be displayed in the special fund of external borrowings and expenditures of the Ministry of Defense.

According to Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the member of the Financial Committee of the Parliament, these 90 billion UAH are the funds that the United Kingdom gives Ukraine within $ 50 billion from G7. "This is probably the first time when international assistance is directly offset by a purely military nature," the deputy wrote on social networks. "I would say, a very good precedent and an example for imitation of other partner countries. " The following year, Ukraine expects $ 38.

4 billion to receive from the Allies, although many observers suggest that Ukraine may be reduced. We will remind that in July the People's Deputy and the chairman of the budget committee of Roksolana Podlas explained what size "hole" in the state budget of Ukraine and why he appeared. According to her, it lacks UAH 500 billion.