Cabinet finds about $7 billion for defense through austerity - Koretskyi

The Cabinet of Ministers expects to provide about $7 billion of the uncovered needs of the defense budget through internal savings, redistribution of funds and suspension of part of civilian expenditures.

Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said this in an interview with the "TSN.Week" program. The government also officially announced that it plans to find these funds within a strict austerity regime for public finances.

According to Koretskyi, the total volume of defense needs for which coverage has not yet been found is about $27 billion. Of this amount, the government sees the possibility to ensure about $7 billion domestically.

"We see about $7 billion. We have already initiated a strict cost-saving process in our finances. And we are already allocating part of the money to the army, to the Defense Forces, without waiting, so that there is no interruption in financing"," said the prime minister.

One of the sources of savings was the suspension of expenditures that the government currently does not consider a priority. Koretskyi mentioned among them payments for already repaired roads, part of new works within resilience plans, and certain cultural programs.

At the same time, it is about suspension, not final cancellation, of these expenses. The Prime Minister explained that the government is reviewing priorities under conditions of funding deficit and directing available resources primarily to the needs of the Defense Forces.

Separately, Koretskyi assured that there will be no problems with monetary allowances for servicemen until the end of the year. According to him, the government guarantees full funding of military salaries, payments to families of the deceased and other stipulated types of support.

"I guarantee. Everything will be stable and in full. There is no reason to worry about this"," stated the head of government.

The situation with financing the purchase of weapons and military equipment remains more complicated. According to Koretskyi, the government is already discussing with manufacturers the possibility of continuing production now with partial payment of orders in January and February 2027. For this, advances and guarantees with the participation of European partners may also be used.

Earlier, Koretskyi explained that the $27 billion is not a new additional need: this amount is included in the general estimate of war expenditures in 2026, which Ukraine estimates at about $155 billion, including budget expenditures and military-technical assistance from partners. Currently, full financial coverage for these $27 billion has not been secured yet.

Based on materials: "TSN.Week", Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine