Norway is allocating NOK 500 million (about $53 million) to Ukraine’s state budget through the World Bank, which will help sustain critical public services and ensure the payment of wages, pensions, and social benefits in Ukraine’s civilian sector in early 2027, according to a statement on the Norwegian government’s website on Friday.
“Ukraine’s resilience also depends on whether everyday life can be maintained, even amid a prolonged war. Norway is helping to ensure that children can go to school, hospitals can treat patients, and retirees can receive their pensions,” said Foreign Minister Espen Bart Eide following a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga in Warsaw, where they are jointly participating in a meeting of foreign ministers from Germany, Poland, the Nordic countries, and the Baltic states, along with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
The meeting is dedicated to the situation in Ukraine and is part of a broad diplomatic effort ahead of the next round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, which will take place next week in Abu Dhabi.
“In addition to our extensive and long-term military and civilian support for Ukraine, Finland and Norway are helping Ukraine prepare for the upcoming negotiations. Our goal is to contribute to achieving a lasting and just peace in Ukraine. This is also one of the topics I am discussing today with my Ukrainian counterpart,” Eide noted.
A government statement emphasizes that Norway’s support strengthens Ukraine’s position in any future negotiations with Russia, and that Norway has previously provided assistance in meeting the urgent financial needs of Ukraine’s state budget.
The funding is provided through a multilateral donor trust fund of the World Bank, which reimburses verified expenditures on salaries, pensions, and social benefits in the civilian sector, particularly in the areas of health care, education, and emergency services.
“This assistance will help ensure payments to socially vulnerable households, pensioners, and public sector employees. It will also help meet year-end financing needs and marks Norway’s first contribution to Ukraine’s state budget in 2027,” the government noted.
It is noted that the World Bank is an important partner for Ukraine and the Nansen Support Program for Ukraine. The Bank works closely with the EU and other partners and supports reforms that are part of Ukraine’s efforts toward EU membership. “Good governance and the fight against corruption are central elements of the World Bank’s activities in Ukraine. The Fund has special control mechanisms that verify expenditures before they are reimbursed. These processes are also subject to external oversight,” the Norwegian government emphasized.
As previously reported, a trilateral meeting (between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia) in Abu Dhabi is scheduled for November 10–11, 2026, in a working format mediated by the U.S. The main topics of the talks will be: an energy ceasefire (cessation of attacks on the energy sector and critical infrastructure), the safety of shipping in the Black Sea (the grain corridor), humanitarian issues, and the exchange of prisoners.
The British government has announced that it will provide Ukraine with an additional 10 billion pounds in aid, according to Valeriy Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“This money will go toward strengthening Ukraine’s air defense this winter, expanding British export capabilities to meet Ukraine’s military needs, and providing economic support to our country over the next three years,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to the ambassador, the UK will also continue to apply sanctions pressure on Russia to force Vladimir Putin to “finally take negotiations seriously as a genuine peace process, rather than issuing ultimatums.”
“This British aid does more than just help Ukraine continue the fight. It is a boost to resilience at a time when the enemy is trying to force us to surrender by terrorizing peaceful cities,” Zaluzhny emphasized.
He thanked British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the government, and the people of the United Kingdom for their support.
The European Union did not support Ukraine’s request for early disbursement of additional funding in 2026 and emphasized that the allocation of funds will depend directly on Kyiv’s implementation of agreed-upon reforms, according to the Financial Times, citing a letter from European Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis and Marta Kos to Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk.
This summer, Ukraine estimated its additional defense needs at approximately $27 billion and approached the European Commission with a proposal to advance a portion of the funds from the two-year €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan program (€60 billion earmarked for defense, €30 billion for direct budget support). According to the program’s terms, up to €45 billion is to be made available to Ukraine in 2026, with the remaining €45 billion to follow in 2027.
According to the FT, European Commissioners have made it clear that access to funding is contingent upon fulfilling an agreed-upon list of commitments. Specifically, this involves the elimination of VAT exemptions for small international parcels, the introduction of taxation rules for digital platforms, and proper financial monitoring of politically exposed persons (PEPs)—changes to which have raised concerns in Brussels as a deviation from the anti-corruption agenda. According to the publication’s assessment, meeting these requirements will pave the way for Kyiv to receive approximately 34 billion euros in support as early as 2026.
At the same time, the European Commission emphasized that the rejection of the request for an early advance payment does not mean a curtailment of financial assistance. On October 1, the parties announced that they had agreed on sources of funding for budgetary and defense needs through the end of 2026, noting that there is no unfunded financial gap for the current year.
In addition, on October 2, the European Commission transferred another tranche of 2.9 billion euros to Ukraine as part of the Ukraine Facility program. The total amount of aid to Kyiv from the EU and its member states since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion has reached 227.4 billion euros.
The Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine reports that the October phase of the “Veterans’ Sports” program will not take place, and the ministry is working to resume it in 2027.
“Ukraine continues to live under conditions of full-scale war and a difficult economic situation. National defense remains the top priority for government spending. Under these circumstances, the state budget’s capacity to fund other areas is limited. At the same time, demand for the ‘Veterans’ Sports’ program has turned out to be significantly higher than expected,” the ministry’s statement reads.
It is noted that in 2026, 600 million hryvnias were initially allocated for the program—based on an estimate of 100,000 recipients per quarter. Accordingly, approximately 300,000 applications were expected over three quarters; however, the program was utilized more than 800,000 times.
Due to this demand, additional funds were allocated to the program throughout the year, and in total, payments exceeding 1.2 billion hryvnias were made in 2026—more than double the initial projection.
“Thus, the program has already covered as many participants as this year’s budget allows. All allocated funds were used for payments, including those returned from previous periods. Since the available financial resources have been exhausted, additional funding is required to carry out the October phase. However, at this time, there is no possibility of allocating funds for this from the state budget. Therefore, unfortunately, a new application phase will not open in the “Diya” app in October, and payments of 1,500 hryvnias will not be made as part of this phase,” the ministry stated.
At the same time, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs states that it is working to transition the program from a pilot format to a permanent one by 2027.
As previously reported, on January 3, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a pilot project to introduce quarterly assistance in the amount of 1,500 UAH for sports activities for combatants and individuals with war-related disabilities. Combatants could apply for these funds quarterly through the “Diya” app.
FUNDING, Ministry of Veterans Affairs, SPORTS, UKRAINE, ветеран
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense estimates that defense spending will rise to $175 billion in 2027 from $155 billion in 2026; the government’s draft state budget currently allocates $100 billion, First Deputy Minister of Finance Roman Yermolichev said during a budget discussion organized by the Center for Economic Strategy that week.
“There is a need for $70 billion. And here, various instruments must be utilized, including cooperation with international partners, not only to attract funding but also to use various instruments that have been in place for the past four years: ‘Ramstein,’ PURL, and all other mechanisms related to the procurement of military equipment,” the First Deputy Minister noted.
He emphasized that when planning defense expenditures in the 2027 draft state budget, the Ministry of Finance significantly changed its approach compared to previous years, when initial allocations were set below actual needs.
“We have now changed this situation and increased funding for the defense sector immediately: funding has been increased by 518 billion hryvnia—that is, from 4.4 trillion to 4.9 trillion hryvnia next year,” said Yermolichev.
The First Deputy Minister explained that the 2026 state budget does not currently include an additional 300 billion hryvnias for the payment of military pay—which was increased as of July 1—and defense-related social benefits, which will be financed from domestic sources, but this 300 billion UAH has already been included in the 518 billion UAH increase in defense spending in the draft 2027 state budget.
At the same time, he clarified that the calculations were made without taking into account the factor of an increase in military personnel, which is difficult to predict.
“Therefore, we hope that by the beginning of the year, we will be in a more or less stable position. Additionally, we have increased the allocation to the Reserve Fund under the Ministry of Finance: this year, we allocated approximately 140 billion hryvnias from the General Fund, whereas for next year, we have already allocated 200 billion hryvnias from the General Fund,” Yermolichev concluded.
As previously reported, the funding shortfall for the Ministry of Defense’s stated $155 billion war requirement for 2026 was, until recently, estimated at $27 billion, but Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky and the Ministry of Finance stated that $7 billion—or about 300 billion hryvnias—of this amount has been secured through domestic resources, specifically the Ministry of Finance’s Reserve Fund.
As for next year, according to the agency “Interfax-Ukraine,” out of the $70–75 billion in war-related expenditures not covered by the state budget, sources of funding have been identified for approximately $20 billion, while the remainder still needs to be secured.
DEFENSE, FUNDING, Ministry of Defense, STATE BUDGET, UKRAINE
To help Ukraine repair and strengthen its energy infrastructure ahead of another winter under attack from Russia, Canada has announced new support.
The announcements were made during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada and his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
According to the website of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Canadian government will provide the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with new loan guarantees totaling nearly 435 million Canadian dollars to support energy security, including the purchase of natural gas during the winter and backup generators for electricity production during shortages.
Canada is allocating 200 million Canadian dollars in concessional loans through Export Development Canada to support Ukraine’s reconstruction. As emphasized by the Prime Minister’s Office, this will help Ukraine repair critical infrastructure while providing Canadian companies with the opportunity to support critical projects.
The support package includes an additional 10 million Canadian dollars for the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, bringing the total to $100 million, to support Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including the procurement and delivery of critical energy equipment to enhance Ukrainians’ resilience to energy disruptions.
In addition, Canada announced a contribution of 2 million Canadian dollars to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Joint Work Program to support the development of Ukraine’s energy resources. This funding will strengthen Ukraine’s energy resilience, provide regulatory support, and promote clean energy projects.
