The state budget of Ukraine received $5 billion in external financing in December, which is twice as much as the previous month, with more than 11% of the total financial assistance coming from grants on non-refundable terms, the press service of the Ministry of Finance reported on Wednesday.
“The attracted international assistance is used to finance priority social expenditures of the state budget, in particular, to pay salaries of employees of the education and healthcare sectors, humanitarian needs, as well as to ensure social protection of the population,” the release said.
According to the agency, the donors in December 2023 were Japan – $2.2 billion (concessional financing and grants), the EU – $1.6 billion (concessional financing), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – approximately $900 million (concessional financing), Norway – $190 million (grant), Germany – $55 million (grant), the United States – $50 million (grant), Switzerland – $20 million (grant) and the World Bank (WB) – $8 million (concessional financing).
It is specified that Japan has provided funding in the form of two grants: one for $180 million under the WB’s Emergency Project for Inclusive Support for Ukraine’s Agricultural Recovery (ARISE) and $52.4 million through the WB’s Housing and Opportunities for People’s Empowerment (HOPE) project.
Japan also financed loans for two WB projects: $1.09 billion for the Public Expenditure Support for Sustainable Governance in Ukraine (PEACE in Ukraine) and $900 million for the Investing in Social Protection for Improved Coverage, Resilience, and Efficiency (INSPIRE) project.
“EU funds in the amount of EUR 1.5 billion are the last tranche of a large-scale macro-financial assistance program (MFA+) of EUR 18 billion for 2023,” the Ministry of Finance emphasized.
As the Ministry reminded, the IMF provided Ukraine with financing worth about $900 million (SDR 663.9 million) as a result of the successful second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program by the IMF Executive Board.
At the same time, the grants from Norway, the United States, and Switzerland are part of the sixth additional financing under the PEACE in Ukraine project. In turn, a EUR 50 million grant from the German State Development Bank (KfW) was attracted under the state support program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%”.
The Ministry of Finance clarified that the concessional financing from the WB in the amount of $8 million is additional funding for the project “Improving Healthcare at the Service of People”.
As reported, in November this year, the Ministry of Finance attracted about $2 billion to the state budget of Ukraine, and in October – $2.8 billion. In total, over 12 months of 2023, Ukraine received about $42.4 billion in external financing for the urgent needs of the state budget.
In 2023, Ukraine attracted $42 billion in external financing to cover budgetary needs and a record amount of borrowing in the domestic market, Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko said.
“This made it possible to finance all the necessary expenditures, first of all for the security and defense forces…,” he said at the Business Breakfeast with Volodymyr Fedorin on Wednesday.
The minister expressed hope that revenue targets would be met, although he said that in the case of customs it was “less likely.”
Marchenko noted that Ukraine has fulfilled its obligations under the Extended Fund Facility program with the IMF and EU macro-financial assistance.
In general, he stated that the implementation of the 2023 state budget seemed much calmer.
“Now we are less worried about 2025 than about 2024,” the Minister of Finance said when asked about the forecast for the next year’s budget plans.
He emphasized that it is necessary to stay in the program with the IMF and to achieve the opening of the Ukraine Facility from the European Union, which will solve the problem of 2025, which is associated with great uncertainty, in particular due to elections in partner countries, by 50%.
According to Marchenko, Ukraine should take steps to reduce its dependence on external partners.
“The key is the coherence of the government team’s actions in the broad sense of the word,” he said.
As reported earlier, Marchenko indicated that Ukraine’s need for external financing in 2024 was reduced from the initial $41 billion to $37.3 billion due to measures to maximize state budget revenues, activate the domestic debt market, and reduce all capital expenditures of the state budget.
In 2022, Ukraine attracted $32.1 billion in external financing.
US President Joe Biden has signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which provides a record $886 billion for defense needs in fiscal year 2024, the White House said in a statement on Friday, December 22.
“The law authorizes appropriations for the fiscal year primarily for the Department of Defense, national security programs of the Department of Energy, the Department of State, and the intelligence community. The law provides the critical authority we need to build the armed forces needed to deter future conflicts, and supports the service members, their spouses and families who carry out this mission every day,” the statement said.
As reported, on December 14, the US Senate approved a $886 billion defense bill, according to which a new position of special inspector general is to be created to monitor the use of military aid by Ukraine.
It was also reported that the Senate version of the budget included $300 million for Ukraine.
In 11 months of 2023, Ukrhydroenergo paid UAH 7.9 billion in taxes, duties and other mandatory payments to the state budget, including UAH 2.2 billion in dividends.
According to the company’s press release on Tuesday, in addition to taxes, direct assistance to the Armed Forces amounted to more than UAH 200 million during the year.
“In the context of confronting the aggressor, one of the main tasks of all enterprises, regardless of ownership, is to pay taxes in full and on time. This is primarily additional funds for the resilience of the Armed Forces, social support for Ukrainians affected by the Russian armed aggression and the restoration of our country,” Ukrhydroenergo emphasized.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed the law on the state budget for 2024.
According to the card of the relevant draft law No. 10000 posted on the website of the Verkhovna Rada, the document was returned to the parliament with the signature of the head of state on November 28.
As reported, on November 9, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a whole the draft law No. 10000 on the state budget for 2024.
In January-October 2023, Ukrgasvydobuvannya JSC paid UAH 19.85 billion in rent payments, the company’s press service reports.
According to the press service, UAH 992.26 million, or 5%, of this amount went to the budgets of the local and regional levels where the company operates.
From January to October 2023, the budgets of Kharkiv and Poltava regions received the largest deductions – UAH 484.96 million and UAH 415.32 million, respectively.
As reported, in 2023, Ukrgasvydobuvannya set a goal to increase natural gas production by 1 bcm to 13.5 bcm. In 2022, UGV produced 12.5 bcm of natural gas (commercial), which is 3% less than in 2021.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine owns 100% of Ukrgasvydobuvannya shares.
