The Rada announced a deficit of almost 1 trillion hryvnias for current military payments
Ukraine lacks almost 1 trillion hryvnias to finance the already established payments to military personnel without their additional increase. This was stated by People's Deputy from "Servant of the People" Bohdan Kytsak. According to him, due to the shortage of funds, the new monetary support system announced in the summer has effectively not become fully operational.
Kytsak told about this on the air of Novyny.LIVE channel.
According to the deputy, the primary problem now is not even the introduction of new increased rates, but finding funds to finance the current payments to the military.
"We also agree that there is a deficit of almost a trillion hryvnias, which needs to be closed now to pay what is currently prescribed. It's not even about any increased rates, but about simply covering what exists now", - said Kytsak.
However, the deputy did not specify the methodology for calculating the almost trillion hryvnia deficit and the period covered by this estimate.
What happened to the new payment system
In June, the government introduced a new system of incentive payments for military personnel, which provides for differentiation of rewards depending on the nature and risk of tasks performed.
In particular, for military personnel on the front line, the total amount of combat payments can reach 460 thousand hryvnias per month. Separately, payments are provided for being directly at positions, assault actions and other combat tasks. Cabinet Resolution No. 768 formally introduced the new system from June 1, 2026.
Kytsak, however, stated that due to insufficient funding, the system has not actually worked as planned.
"Money for this system was either not provided or not calculated as it should have been done. And de facto, as of September, this system is not working, unfortunately", - said the deputy.
At the same time, this statement requires clarification. The Ministry of Defense officially reports that the new incentive payments have been in effect since June and publishes the procedure for their accrual. Therefore, Kytsak's words probably refer to the actual financing or full-scale scaling of the new system, rather than the absence of a regulatory mechanism as such. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
Kytsak proposes a minimum of 40 thousand hryvnias
According to the People's Deputy, the Ministry of Defense together with the relevant parliamentary committee is currently looking for a realistic option to increase monetary support.
Kytsak called increasing the minimum level of payments to 30 thousand hryvnias a compromise option, but he himself advocates setting the basic level at least at 40 thousand hryvnias, from which further allowances should be calculated.
"Raising it to at least 30 thousand hryvnias will be a compromise option. I still insist that the minimum should be set at 40 thousand and further allowances made from this figure", - he said.
Earlier the deficit was estimated much lower
The problem of lack of funds for monetary support of the military became obvious already in the first half of the year. In June, the Accounting Chamber reported that the actual need of the security and defense sector for expenditures on monetary support of military personnel by the end of 2026 was 365.6 billion hryvnias higher than the amount provided in the budget.
In the state budget for 2026, a total of 2.807 trillion hryvnias was provided for the security and defense sector. Of these, 1.273 trillion hryvnias - for monetary support of military personnel and remuneration of employees of the security and defense sector.
Thus, Kytsak's estimate of almost 1 trillion hryvnias significantly exceeds the Accounting Chamber's estimate made based on the first quarter. This may indicate both a further increase in needs during the year and a different scope of expenditures considered in these estimates.
Zelenskyy spoke about $27 billion
At the end of August, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also spoke about the large-scale defense financing deficit. It was about 27 billion dollars.
The President explained that some of the funds that were supposed to be used in the second half of the year were spent by the Ministry of Defense earlier - in particular on the production of drones and other defense needs. Now this resource must be compensated.
At the same time, $27 billion is not just the salary deficit of the military. According to Zelenskyy, about $8-10 billion of this amount is needed in advance to provide weapons and other needs for the beginning of 2027. Almost $20 billion is needed for military salaries, payments to families of the fallen and other areas of financing.
Therefore, Kytsak's "almost a trillion hryvnias" in scale is close to the part of the deficit that Zelenskyy associated with payments to the military, families of the fallen and other current needs. However, one cannot directly equate these two estimates: the president named a broader group of expenditures, and Kytsak did not provide a detailed calculation of his figure.
The problem of insufficient defense financing has already been recognized by the government. Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi earlier stated that the Cabinet had found about 70 billion hryvnias in savings on other budget items and plans to direct this money to the needs of the Defense Forces. At the same time, the government estimated the total additional need of the defense budget at about $27 billion.
Based on materials: Novyny.LIVE, Accounting Chamber, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
