Ukraine's budget problems. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal with an appeal to international donors

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has called for an urgent meeting with international donors due to the “extremely high uncertainty” of Ukraine's budget perspective for 2024. Bloomberg reported this information, citing a letter from the Ukrainian Prime Minister sent to the Interagency Donor Coordination Platform.

The politician emphasized the urgent need to develop a plan for financing Ukrainian needs to achieve stability and prevent the collapse of the country's public finances.

"In order to maintain macroeconomic stability, it is crucial that we receive sufficient operational external financing from January 2024"
Denys Shmyhal.

The main focus, according to the Ukrainian Prime Minister, should be on "urgent budgetary needs" including the payment of due official salaries and pensions.

"Having discussions on long-term recovery projects is nearly impossible when we are trying to meet priorities for surviving 2024," he stressed.

Oleg Synyutka: The budget was adopted irresponsibly

Oleg Synyutka, a Member of Parliament, expressed concern about Ukraine's significant financial problems, stating that the authorities adopted the budget law too quickly, which may lead to tragic consequences.

“Honestly, I don't know why government representatives were in such a hurry, as this budget does not provide answers to the main questions. The first question is where the money will come from when the budget gap is $42 billion. During his speech, the Minister of Finance honestly admitted that he did not know (...) I am convinced that it is irresponsible to approve the budget without a guarantee of its balance” he said.

According to the parliamentarian, there are items in the budget expenditure that should not take place during an ongoing war.

"Hundreds of millions of hryvnias were allocated for the filming of series, which could be spent on defense, security, and the education sector (...) There are many things in which we asked for changes and clarification, but the parliament does not want to listen and votes in principle 'To the Servants' emphasized Synyutka.