France has increased defense spending, some of which will be invested in production in Ukraine, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Ukraine Gael Vesierre has said.
During the 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Open Ukraine Foundation, the Ambassador noted that France’s defense spending exceeded 2% of GDP.
Regarding investments in defense, the diplomat stressed that investments are also needed to produce in Ukraine what the Ukrainian Armed Forces need.
“We say: if we can start such production in Ukraine, we should do it,” Vesier said.
He also called for supporting Ukraine to achieve victory.
“Let’s imagine for a second if Russia wins. It means that Russia can destroy a neighbor and the international community can do nothing in response. It means that many countries will say: we now need to join the nuclear club because our security is at risk. It will be a more risky and unstable situation than today,” the French diplomat emphasized.
The 16th annual Kiev Security Forum, organized to mobilize transatlantic support for Ukraine, is taking place March 21-22.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says that from the point of view of state budget expenditures, a day of war costs UAH 2 billion, and from the point of view of losses – $4 billion.
“There are two numbers. How much a day of war costs in terms of state budget expenditures, how much we pay, and how much we need. This is in the region of UAH 2 billion, which is what it costs us to conduct hostilities, pay wages, and so on. And there are other expenses – $4 billion in losses, which costs us every day of the war in terms of the destruction of our infrastructure, the loss of economic potential, the loss of future GDP,” Shmyhal said in an interview on the air of the national telethon on Friday morning.
The prime minister said that Ukraine’s losses are, among other things, a reduction in the sowing campaign by 20% and the inability to fully realize its export potential.
Expenditures on the healthcare system in the draft state budget for 2022 are provided at the level of UAH 197.2 billion, which is UAH 35.8 billion more than in 2021, according to materials presented by Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko.
“Expenditures on medicine next year will increase to UAH 197.2 billion, which is more than this year by UAH 35.8 billion. Funds under the Medical Guarantee program, including a COVID package, will amount to almost UAH 158 billion. In addition, it is planned to send UAH 6 billion for the public health system and vaccination of the population against COVID-19,” he said, presenting the draft law on the state budget of Ukraine for 2022 during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
In addition, the draft budget provides for funds to increase salaries for doctors and nurses.
“The average salary of a doctor is envisaged at the level of UAH 22,500, for medical personnel – UAH 14,500, while the minimum wage is at least UAH 20,000 and UAH 13,500, respectively,” Marchenko said.
In addition, according to the document, it is planned to allocate UAH 19.1 billion for highly specialized medical care, UAH 4 billion for the development of a capable network of medical institutions, UAH 2.7 billion for the purchase of equipment, UAH 2.4 billion for the support of regional medical institutions, UAH 1.5 billion for transplantation and treatment abroad, UAH 1 billion for the creation of the bio-cluster “Biological safety and development of biotechnologies.”
