Ukraine will need at least $120 billion next year if the war unleashed by Russia continues, in order to hold the front line and minimize the number of lives lost among its defenders, Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal reiterated his July assessment at the annual YES conference “How to End the War,” organized by the Pinchuk Foundation in Kyiv on September 12-13.
“If the war ends, we will need a slightly smaller amount to simply keep our army in good shape in case of secondary aggression from the Russian side,” Shmyhal said.
“The economics of war show that if we spend less money than Russia, then we start paying with our territories and, most importantly, with our lives. Therefore, we need to attract all the necessary resources, all the necessary money,” he stressed.
The defense minister acknowledged that after three and a half years, many taxpayers are exhausted from spending such a huge amount of money, so he spoke in favor of using frozen Russian assets until Russia compensates for all the expenses that Ukraine and all countries have incurred during this wartime.
In his opinion, such a solution can be found even without direct confiscation, because the legal complexity of this procedure is understandable.
“We need to have a stable source of funding to finance Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction. Therefore, the number one issue for all of us is to find a political and legal solution for the use of frozen Russian assets,” Shmygal said.
He highlighted three main priorities: supplying the Defense Forces with more FPV drones, more robotic systems, and artillery shells, including long-range ones; sky defense—both with Patriots against ballistic missiles and with interceptor drones against drones; long-range weapons—Ukrainian-made drones and missiles.
“If our Western partners provide us with more deep strike systems and equipment, we will be absolutely delighted. But we can produce our own deep strike weapons, and again, we need funding,” the defense minister said.
He explained that such long-range strikes put the most pressure on the Russian economy and society, as well as directly on Putin, because they allow for the destruction of their oil refineries and military production infrastructure.
“We need to produce more, we need to continue carpet bombing operations, when all the planes in the Moscow region are grounded day after day. This is very inconvenient for the Moscow elite, and they are directly telling Putin: let’s stop this war because we can’t fly,” Shmygal added.
According to him, he conveys these needs during meetings in the Rammstein format.
In addition, the defense minister announced the need to create a so-called Kill Zone, which is currently being formed on the front line, to prevent aggression from recurring in the future. “These are lines of drones covering 10, 15, or even 30 km of territory,” he explained.
According to estimates by Alexander Parashchiy, head of the analytical department at investment company Concorde Capital, defense and security spending in 2024 amounted to approximately $95 billion, while this year he predicted it would grow to approximately $100-105 billion. Approximately half of this amount comes from the budget, while the other half has been provided by partners until recently.
In addition, Ukraine attracts about $40 billion in external financial assistance annually for non-military purposes in order to be able to finance military needs from the budget. For next year, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko has estimated the need for external financing of the state budget deficit at $45 billion, of which EUR16 billion has not yet been secured.
CONFERENCE, SHMYHAL, WAR, ЄС
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine seeks to start negotiations on joining the European Union as soon as possible – no later than June this year, the Communications Department of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine reported on Friday.
“We expect the EU to approve the negotiation framework for us without delay. We see no objective obstacles that could prevent this. We are actively supported by all European countries,” Shmyhal said at the panel “European Integration of Ukraine, its Regions and Territorial Communities” at the forum “Life of Regions in War.”
He added that Ukraine has reliable partners in the EU who are ready to help and share their experience for the successful completion of the negotiation process.
The Prime Minister noted that Ukraine has done all the homework to start negotiations on joining the EU. “The European Commission has confirmed that Ukraine has fulfilled all the conditions. We have demonstrated well-coordinated work. Today, the President announced a proposal to develop an infrastructure for European integration. This should include representatives from the government to communities who will work with European funds,” Shmyhal said.
He added that the Ukrainian government, for its part, is ready to help communities attract as much money as possible from the EU. At the same time, the main problem remains the ability of communities to prepare and present relevant projects. “This should be a priority for communities. Because this year we have access to European funds. Ukraine has moved from candidate status to negotiator status. And this gives us additional opportunities,” Shmyhal said.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that as part of the government reform, it is planned to reduce the number of ministries by one third.
“We are working on changing the format of the government. In particular, we are reducing the number of ministries. We want to cut the number of ministries by one third, reduce the number of civil servants,” Shmyhal said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
The prime minister also noted that the government is working to create a strong government center, where auxiliary and administrative functions will be concentrated.
“The ministries should have a small number of very good specialists who will formulate public policy, and the Government Center will provide legal support in the personnel, accounting and financial spheres, and the Government Center should quickly prepare documents for a particular ministry,” he added.
As reported, Cabinet of Ministers Minister Oleh Nemchinov has suggested that the Government Center could be launched by 2025.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, following the results of the Spring Meetings in Washington (the United States), announced that Ukraine would receive additional support of more than $5 billion from France, Germany, and the UK.
“Following the results of negotiations with the finance ministers of the G7 countries at the Spring Meetings, we received assurances of additional support of more than $5 billion for Ukraine. In particular, we agreed on additional support packages with France, Germany, and the UK,” Shmyhal told reporters at a briefing in Washington.
According to him, Switzerland will also provide Ukraine with CHF 1.8 billion over the next six years. And Denmark, in turn, creates a special fund and plans to fill it with EUR 1 billion.
In addition, Spain, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Iceland, and the Netherlands will provide additional support to Ukraine.
“All this will help win and ensure the resilience of our economy,” the Ukrainian prime minister said.
As reported, Shmyhal met with the finance ministers of the UK, Germany, and France on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings in Washington. At the meeting, the head of government raised issues of financial support for Ukraine and interaction within the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform.
Germany will provide more than EUR 3 billion in additional funding this year and more than EUR 5 billion in long-term defense support.
France also plans to provide EUR 2 billion as part of long-term financing.
