Despite the fact that Kyiv, like other cities, can only help those units that are formed and registered on the territory of the community, the capital’s authorities find opportunities to help other units of the Armed Forces and will increase this assistance, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Kyiv TV channel, the press service of the Kyiv City State Administration reports.
“Kyiv has allocated 7 billion hryvnias to help our military. This is 10 percent of the capital’s budget. Although initially the amount was planned to be much less – 100 million. We receive requests from our defenders almost every day. And we have never left them unanswered or without help. We have delivered 170 vehicles of various types to various units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It includes bulletproof vests, helmets, first aid kits, communications equipment, medical equipment… UAH 1 billion 550 million was allocated from the city budget for drones alone. Because we understand that our future depends on the strength of our military,” Klitschko emphasized.
He noted that at almost every meeting, the Kyiv City Council makes changes to the budget to increase assistance to the Ukrainian army. The city also allocated a lot of money for the construction of fortifications.
Klitschko added that helping the defenders is also a social component.
“The city provides financial assistance to veterans and families of heroes – 800 million hryvnias in 2023 alone. We also constantly purchase medical equipment for military hospitals and rehabilitation centers. We also allocate funds for the purchase of apartments for the families of our defenders… Kyiv has also been paying 30 thousand hryvnias to those mobilized since December 1 to provide financial incentives to new recruits. And it will continue to do so next year,” Klitschko emphasized.
“For the next year, we have preliminarily planned UAH 1 billion in the budget to help the army. But I can assure you that we will continue to increase our assistance, despite the fact that the military personal income tax (PIT) has been taken away from us. This means losses for the capital’s budget of about UAH 7 billion. This is despite the fact that Kyiv still pays 60 percent of personal income tax to the state budget (other cities pay 40 percent). But I repeat: we will do everything to effectively help our defenders,” Klitschko emphasized.
