The leader of the Servant of the People party, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Kornienko, estimates the cost of holding elections in Ukraine at UAH 6 billion.
“There are no complicated calculations here, since 90% of these costs are the salaries of commission members. Since the last elections, the 2019 parliamentary elections, the minimum wage and average salary have increased by several thousand hryvnia, and some indicators have doubled. Therefore, if elections previously cost UAH 2.5-3 billion, then simply multiplying that figure by two, the current cost would be UAH 6 billion,” Kornienko said in an interview with the Azerbaijani news agency Report.
He also noted a number of issues related to compensation for commission members abroad. “How can this be implemented? If, for example, we follow our regulations, some of these people will be there, and some may be on business trips. These are all additional expenses. So, these issues remain unresolved,” said the first deputy speaker.
According to Kornienko, partner countries “understand that they will finance these elections.”
“We are negotiating with them,” he said.
At the same time, the party leader said that he would not like to discuss the issue of election participants, since “there are more pressing problems in the country right now, such as the energy crisis.”
“Unfortunately, the aggressor country has deprived us of both democracy and the opportunity to hold elections on time… Let’s see how events unfold, including political ones. Now we need to do everything we can to at least be able to hold these elections,” Kornienko concluded.
