Budget Committee supports proposal to raise military salaries
On October 21, the Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee supported a proposal to increase the financial support of Ukrainian military personnel. The corresponding amendment was included in the recommendations for the draft state budget for 2027, but the final decision still rests with the parliament.
This was announced by People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, one of the initiators of the relevant changes.
According to the parliamentarian, the Budget Committee unanimously supported amendment No. 1279, which specifically provides for an increase in military salaries, not just a review of their size.
However, at the insistence of the Cabinet of Ministers, the specific percentage of the increase was removed from the proposal. Therefore, the committee-approved version does not yet specify exactly how much the payments should increase.
Amendment No. 1279 was taken into account along with proposal No. 1283 by People's Deputy Anna Purtova, which provides for an instruction to the government to review the financial support of military personnel.
What the initial proposals provided for
Earlier, Zheleznyak, together with a group of deputies, proposed to provide in the state budget for 2027 additional UAH 200 billion to increase military salaries by approximately 20%.
As one example, the deputy cited the possibility of increasing the financial support of military personnel in rear positions from 30 to 36 thousand hryvnias.
To finance such changes, the authors of the initiative proposed redistributing part of the budget expenditures, in particular reducing funding for certain state programs.
However, the wording supported by the committee does not contain a mandatory requirement to increase payments by 20%. This means that the specific amount of the possible increase will depend on further decisions of the government and available budget resources.
When military salaries may be increased
The support of the amendment by the Budget Committee does not yet change the current payment procedure. According to Zheleznyak, the corresponding proposal should become an instruction to the Cabinet of Ministers within the framework of the budget conclusions of the Verkhovna Rada.
To achieve this, parliamentarians need to support it during consideration of the draft state budget for 2027 in the session hall. According to preliminary plans, the corresponding vote may take place next week.
After that, the government is to amend normative acts regulating the financial support of military personnel, as well as determine financial support for the increase.
Thus, the committee's decision does not yet mean an actual increase in salaries and does not set a start date for new payments.
The draft state budget for 2027, registered in the Verkhovna Rada under No. 16000, was submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers on September 15. According to the official agenda, on October 21 the Budget Committee considered preparation of the document for the first reading.
In the initial draft budget, a separate general increase in military financial support had not been provided. For this reason, People's Deputies had previously repeatedly raised the issue of additional financing for payments.
In particular, when amending the budget for 2026, parliament increased overall defense spending, but this did not automatically lead to a raise in salaries for all military personnel.
Now, the future of the initiative will depend on the vote of the Verkhovna Rada and the willingness of the Cabinet of Ministers to ensure its implementation.
Based on materials from: Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee
