Ukraine gradually unblocks budget payments for communities: Koretskyi made a statement

The Government of Ukraine has unblocked part of its budget expenditures, primarily for the implementation of community resilience plans, and plans to gradually make all delayed payments. The resumption of funding became possible after the government fulfilled a number of obligations and the parliament adopted laws necessary to receive international assistance.

This was announced on October 20 by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Koretskyi following the hearings of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine.

According to the head of government, the Cabinet of Ministers fulfilled all its obligations, and the Verkhovna Rada adopted some important laws on which the receipt of international financial support depends. This allowed to resume funding of part of local budget expenditures.

"Step by step, all deferred payments will be made", Koretskyi assured.

However, the Prime Minister did not name specific deadlines for full settlement of delayed payments and the amount of funds still to be transferred.

At the meeting with community leaders and city mayors, preparations for winter and the work of district heating enterprises were also discussed. Koretskyi reminded that each community makes the decision to start the heating season independently, taking into account the temperature regime.

Meanwhile, statistics from the State Treasury Service already indicate a significant increase in budget payments after the restrictions introduced at the end of September.

According to estimates by the publication "Nashi Groshi" based on data from the state system Spending.gov.ua, during October 12-18, UAH 21.23 billion in payments from local budgets passed through the Treasury. A week earlier, October 5-11, their volume was only UAH 9.23 billion.

Thus, over the week, local budget payments increased approximately 2.3 times, or by UAH 12 billion. Their share in total treasury operations rose from 10% to 20%.

In total, during October 12-18, payments of UAH 103.52 billion were made through the Treasury. Of this amount, UAH 82.3 billion fell on the state budget, and UAH 21.23 billion on local budgets.

The increase in payments occurred after the government at the end of September restricted the processing of some budget payments due to a lack of funds. At that time, the Association of Ukrainian Cities reported problems with funding preparations for the heating season, arrangement of shelters, restoration of damaged infrastructure and work of communal services.

In addition, payments for capital and construction works, which the government limited in September, resumed. According to "Nashi Groshi", one of the largest recipients of funds was the "Avtostrada" group of companies, which received UAH 1.31 billion during the reporting week. The municipal enterprise "Kyivteploenergo" received about UAH 1.03 billion.

However, the increase in total volumes of treasury operations does not mean that all communities have already gained access to the necessary funding.

In particular, the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovy, reported on October 19 about delays in budget payments, including UAH 158 million for ensuring the operation of public transport and about UAH 18 million for salaries of street cleaners.

In the evening of the same day, Sadovy reported a partial resumption of payments. According to him, the Treasury processed about 20% of the critically important payments the city was expecting.

In particular, UAH 40 million was directed to the operation of electric transport, and salary payments to communal workers began. However, payments submitted after September 21 remained unprocessed at that time. Funding for private bus carriers and compensation for preferential transportation had not been restored either.

Thus, although the total volume of treasury payments returned to the September level, the issue of settling accumulated arrears remains open. The government promised to gradually make all deferred payments, but their current total volume and payment schedule have not yet been published.

Based on materials: Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, "Nashi Groshi", Andriy Sadovy