In Ukraine, budget payments to communities are being restored, but part of the funds remains blocked
In Ukraine, after a sharp reduction in treasury payments in early October, settlements from local budgets have been restored. Over the past reporting week, their volume more than doubled and returned to the level of September. At the same time, some communities still cannot make all the necessary payments.
This is evidenced by an analysis by the publication "Nashi Groshi", published on October 20 on the basis of information from the state system Spending.gov.ua.
According to journalists' calculations, during October 12-18, payments from local budgets through the State Treasury Service amounted to UAH 21.23 billion. The previous week, October 5-11, this figure was only UAH 9.23 billion.
Thus, over the week, the volume of payments from local budgets increased by UAH 12 billion, or about 2.3 times. Their share in total treasury payments increased from 10% to 20%.
In total, during October 12-18, UAH 103.52 billion in payments passed through the Treasury. Of this amount, UAH 82.3 billion fell on the state budget, the rest on local budgets.
The growth occurred after restrictions were introduced by the government at the end of September due to a shortage of budget funds. At that time, communities reported delays in settlements with suppliers, utilities and contractors even if they had money in their own accounts.
Because of the restrictions, difficulties arose in paying for work to prepare for the heating season, equip shelters, restore damaged infrastructure, and ensure the operation of utilities.
At the same time, some payments for capital works and construction, which the government had limited in September, were restored.
According to Spending.gov.ua, one of the largest recipients of funds during October 12-18 was the group of companies "Autostrada", which received UAH 1.31 billion. The enterprise is a major contractor in infrastructure and road construction.
Other major recipients of budget payments in this period include the Pension Fund of Ukraine (UAH 49.48 billion), the Ministry of Finance (UAH 12.98 billion), PrivatBank (UAH 2.7 billion) and the utility company "Kyivteploenergo" (UAH 1.03 billion).
However, the restoration of general volumes of treasury operations does not mean the full unblocking of expenditures for all communities.
In particular, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported on October 19 that the Treasury had not made payments of the city for over UAH 1.086 billion. Among them were UAH 158 million for the operation of public transport and UAH 17.9 million for salaries of street cleaners.
That evening, Sadovyi reported a partial restoration of settlements. According to him, the Treasury made about 20% of the critical payments the city expected.
In particular, UAH 40 million were directed to the operation of electric transport, and salary payments for street cleaners were started. However, payments submitted after September 21 remained unpaid at that time. Funding for bus carriers and compensation for preferential transportation were also not released.
Recall that on October 12, Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko reported that due to the budget liquidity crisis, UAH 46 billion of unpaid payments had accumulated in the Treasury. The government was forced to postpone some expenses, including infrastructure projects and procurement of equipment.
On October 16, Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi stated about the beginning of gradual restoration of funding, noting that further payments will depend on incoming international aid.
New statistics show an increase of actually processed settlements, but do not allow to conclude that all accumulated delays are fully cleared. The current total volume of the Treasury's unpaid payments is not yet specified.
Sources: "Nashi Groshi", Ukrinform
