The reduction in expenditures of the general fund of the state budget-2022, which will allow UAH 73.32 billion to be allocated to the Reserve Fund, will affect a significant part of the managers, follows from the relevant resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 401 of April 1, published on the government website on Sunday.
In particular, according to it, spending on the Verkhovna Rada will be reduced by UAH 270.8 million, the State Administration of Affairs – by UAH 121.5 million, the economic and financial department of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers – by UAH 271.6 million, the State Judicial Administration – by UAH 1 billion 576.3 UAH million Office of the Prosecutor General – by UAH 1 billion 402.6 million.
In addition, expenses were reduced for such administrators as the Ministry of Economy – by UAH 689.4 million (mainly for the State Food and Consumer Service and anti-epizootic measures), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – by UAH 562.7 million, the Ministry of Health – UAH 588.7 million, the Ministry of Energy – UAH 510.6 million (mainly in the coal industry), the Ministry of Agrarian Policy – UAH 552.4 million (mainly the formation of the Loan Guarantee Fund in the agro-industrial complex and land inventory for the State GeoCadastre).
This list also includes the Ministry of Sports – UAH 1 billion 258.4 million, the Ministry of Finance with tax, customs and State Financial Monitoring – UAH 2 billion 507.3 million, the Ministry of Justice – UAH 669.4 million, the Ministry of Culture – UAH 847.2 million, the Ministry of Reintegration – 437, UAH 6 million, the National Academy of Sciences – UAH 549.8 million, the State Space Agency – UAH 245.2 million (of which rocket fuel disposal – UAH 240 million) and a number of other government agencies with smaller spending cuts.
However, the main cuts are in general state spending supervised by the Ministry of Veterans – UAH 5 billion 496.1 million (mainly subventions to local budgets), the Ministry of Education and Science – UAH 14 billion 771.3 million (including educational subsidies to local budgets – 10.8 billion UAH) and the Ministry of Social Policy – UAH 32 billion 147.5 million (including the Pension Fund – UAH 20.1 billion).
In addition, UAH 3 billion 774.4 billion will be released at the expense of the Ministry of Infrastructure, mainly due to the article on guaranteeing flights to Ukraine (UAH 3.63 billion) introduced on the eve of the war.
As reported, in March, the government already carried out the first such sequestration of the budget for UAH 107 billion – these funds were also directed through the Reserve Fund to finance priority needs during the war, including support for the army. As Minister of Finance Sergei Marchenko explained, the government has such powers within the framework of martial law introduced in the country.
The budget of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the provision of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine has been increased to 250 million Swiss francs, the organization’s president, Peter Maurer, said.
“Some 75 million Swiss francs until February 24 (Russian invasion of Ukraine) per year was the approximate budget of the International Committee of the Red Cross for Ukraine. We asked our donors for 150 million Swiss francs. As a result, now our budget for Ukraine is 250 million Swiss francs. Then there are donors who are very generous in everything related to the situation in Ukraine, and this will allow us to expand our activities,” Maurer said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine and the Ukraine 24 TV Channel.
According to him, the ICRC’s humanitarian operation in Ukraine is the largest in the world in recent decades.
“Just for comparison: before the escalation in Ukraine, the largest Red Cross operations were carried out in Afghanistan, Syria. That is, with a budget of 180-190 million. Now Ukraine is our largest operation in the world,” he said.
Maurer also noted that the ICRC has already delivered 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and is ready to start distributing it.
Among other types of support, he named the intention of the organization to locally purchase goods and receive services, to support the economy. The president of the humanitarian organization also said that he had agreed with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on the implementation of a cash support scheme for the country, similar to the one during the COVID-19 crisis.
Energoatom, based on the results of its activities in 2022, must allocate half of its net profit to the budget, provided that the second half is directed to the implementation of an investment program.
The corresponding decision is enshrined in resolution No. 134 of February 16, 2022 on amending the procedure for deductions of a part of net profit (income) to the state budget by state unitary enterprises and their associations, published on Friday on the Uriadovy Portal.
“The share of net profit deducted by Energoatom based on the results of financial and economic activities in 2022 is determined in the amount of 50%, provided that 50% of net profit (income) from its activities is directed to the implementation of the investment program,” the resolution says.
According to Energy Reform, the government has yet to make a decision on the amount of deductions based on the results of 2021.
The Verkhovna Rada has adopted at the first reading the draft law on the state budget for 2022.
The corresponding decision at a plenary session on Tuesday was supported by 273 deputies with the required 226 votes.
As reported, on October 20, the Verkhovna Rada began to consider the draft state budget for 2022 and adopted it as a basis, after which the parliament began discussing separate amendments of deputies.
MPS propose to amend the state budget for 2021 and distribute UAH 38.75 billion of additional receipts, including UAH 12 billion for subsidies and UAH 15 billion for the repair of national roads.
Bill No. 6052 was registered by a group of MPs in parliament on Tuesday.
According to an explanatory note to the bill posted on the parliament’s website, it is proposed to increase receipts from corporate income tax – by UAH 30 billion, VAT on imports – by UAH 6 billion, VAT on goods manufactured in Ukraine – by UAH 2 billion, fee paid during the legal process for establishing ownership to cars – by UAH 0.75 billion.
At the expense of these additional receipts, the MPs propose to increase spending on subsidies by UAH 12 billion, to UAH 47.295 billion, according to the bill.
In addition, the MPs propose to provide for an additional amount of funding for the road infrastructure in the amount of UAH 15 billion.
“In particular, in 2021, it is planned to carry out repair and construction work on a total length of 4,500 km of state highways, but the existing funding is currently insufficient to implement these plans,” the authors of the bill said in the explanatory note.
The bill also proposes to send additional funding in the amount of UAH 2.5 billion for the construction of social and cultural facilities, transport infrastructure. Thus, it is proposed to increase the amount of subventions from the state budget to local budgets by the indicated amount.
In addition to this, the bill proposes to allocate UAH 1.5 billion from additional receipts for the construction of projects within the framework of the Big Construction state program.
Another UAH 1 billion is proposed to be used to pay off debts and pay salaries to employees of state-run mines. In addition, the MPs propose to allocate UAH 556 million to replenish the charter capital of the state-owned enterprises Boryspil International Airport, Ukraine state aviation enterprise and Ukrservice of the Transport Ministry.
Amendments to the current state budget also imply the following directions: UAH 282 million to provide housing for 215 internally displaced persons who defended the sovereignty of Ukraine, UAH 280.5 million for timely settlements with dismissed military personnel, UAH 176.8 million for providing prisons with food and settlements for utilities, UAH 86.9 million for a budget program for the development of an emergency medical care system and modernization of the material and technical base of healthcare institutions, as well as UAH 10 million for additional circulations of the Uriadovy Kurier newspaper.
The Ministry of Finance has proposed that spending on health care is budgeted at 4.5% of GDP, on education at 7.2% in the consolidated document for 2022, the ministry said on its website on Friday.
“We plan to budget spending on healthcare at 4.5% of GDP for next year,” the press service of Deputy Finance Minister Roman Yermolychev reported, citing him speaking after a meeting with representatives of trade unions and employers regarding budgeting for 2022.
At the same time, Yermolychev emphasized the need to improve the efficiency of the use of funds not only in medicine, but also in education.
“In the field of education, funds should work for education. Next year, it is planned about 7.2% of GDP according to the consolidated budget. We assume the possibility of updating the material and technical base of schools and supporting the organization of high-quality meals for students of general secondary educational institutions,” the Deputy Minister of Finance said.
As reported, when preparing the state budget for 2021, ex-Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov insisted on the need to budget 5% of GDP on health care. In turn, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said that an increase in financing of the Ministry of Health to 5% may occur in 2023 thanks to a gradual increase in this dynamics from 4.2% of GDP budgeted in 2021.
