The project of Ukraine, a warring country, for 2023 was developed by the Ministry of Finance and supported by the Cabinet of Ministers, said Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
“The 2023 state budget is the budget of a country that will become stronger, strengthen its defense capabilities, be able to recover from the damage caused by Russian armed aggression, and also take care of citizens in need,” he wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
According to the Budget Code, the government must submit the draft state budget to the Verkhovna Rada by September 15.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kyivstar mobile operator has paid UAH 4.246 billion in taxes and fees to the state budget, including UAH 1.682 billion ahead of schedule, the company’s press service said on Tuesday.
According to the operator, today Kyivstar has connected more than 1,200 bomb shelters in different cities of the country to free wired Internet, and also transmitted more than 300 million State Emergency Service messages with vital information to the population.
In addition, the company transferred over UAH 33 million to the humanitarian needs of the military, hospitals, the elderly and those affected by the war. The operator’s subscribers, using short numbers and the Smart Money service, transferred more than UAH 3.2 million for humanitarian needs of hospitals and the military, the press service clarifies.
“More than 90% of the company’s network functions stably and provides subscribers with communication and high-speed Internet services. To do this, in the first quarter of 2022, the operator invested UAH 659 million in the development of communications. During the hostilities, the company built 110 new mobile communication facilities and improved 4G communications in 3,500 settlements,” the report says.
According to the operator, during the war, the company’s subscribers were provided with free services worth UAH 429 million. Subscribers in 30 countries of the world receive communication services at the same tariffs as in Ukraine.
In addition, Kyivstar provides doctors working in risk areas with free mobile communications.
National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom paid UAH 11.3 billion to the state budget in January-May 2022, which is twice the figure for the same period last year.
“Thanks to such indicators, Energoatom ranked third among all taxpayers in Ukraine and received special thanks for the financial support of Ukraine from the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Work with Large Taxpayers,” the company said on its Telegram channel on Monday.
As reported, Energoatom paid more than UAH 4.8 billion to the state budget in the first quarter of this year, which is a third or almost UAH 1.2 billion more than in the same period last year.
Canada’s draft federal budget for 2022 (starts July 1), presented by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in Parliament on Thursday, provides for the continuation of active financial support for Ukraine, in particular, the allocation of CAD500 million (almost $400 million) of military assistance and CAD1 billion (almost $800 million) loans.
“Canadians support the brave people of Ukraine, who are fighting for their lives, for their sovereignty, for their own and for our own democracy,” reads the preamble to a separate “Support for Ukraine” section of the budget, posted on the Canadian Treasury website.
According to him, at the beginning of this year, Canada announced the expansion of Operation UNIFIER, the mission of the Canadian armed forces to provide military training and support to Ukrainian forces, under which since 2015 Canada has trained about 33,000 Ukrainian military and security forces, as well as the provision of military assistance to over CAD90 million
“The 2022 budget proposes to allocate an additional CAD500 million in 2022-2023 to provide additional military assistance to Ukraine,” the draft reads.
It clarifies that Canada is already providing military assistance, both lethal and non-lethal, and is also partnering with allies to share intelligence and provide support in enhancing Ukraine’s cybersecurity.
With regard to sanctions and holding Russia accountable, the draft 2022 budget announced the government’s intention to clarify the powers of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to confiscate and dispose of assets belonging to individuals and entities under sanctions.
The document states that to date, Canada has provided CAD145 million in humanitarian assistance and CAD35 million in development assistance to provide direct support to Ukrainians affected by the illegal Russian invasion, as well as loans totaling CAD620 million to support Ukraine’s financial stability, economic sustainability and governance reforms.
“The 2022 budget announced that Canada will offer up to CAD1 billion in new credit resources to the government of Ukraine through a new managed account for Ukraine at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that the government can continue its activities,” the draft reads.
It clarifies that Canada has worked with the government of Ukraine, the IMF and other member countries to establish this mechanism and encourage allies and partners to participate.
In addition, Canada recalled that since March 17, it has given permission to Ukrainian refugees and their closest relatives of any nationality to stay in Canada as temporary residents for up to three years with the right to work. They will also have access to additional support such as language training and career guidance services.
The federal government is also developing a special permanent residence program for Ukrainians with relatives in Canada.
“The government has provided new funding of CAD111 million over five years with CAD6 million in subsequent years to implement these new immigration measures,” the draft states, including CAD78 million for this purpose in the draft 2022 budget.
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.
