A Ukrainian MP said Kyiv may not have enough money for pensioners and the military

Ukraine may run out of money to pay pensioners and the military as early as the first quarter of 2026.

This was stated by a deputy from Ukraine’s ruling “Servant of the People” party and head of the Verkhovna Rada’s finance committee, Danylo Hetmantsev.

According to the parliamentarian, the only way out for the Ukrainian authorities may be to fulfill the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) condition for launching a new program.

“The IMF’s governing body, which could have made a decision on this program, was supposed to meet in January. But because the Verkhovna Rada did not pass the laws needed to launch this program, the meeting deadlines have been postponed,” Hetmantsev explained.

Let us recall that last week the Verkhovna Rada failed to pass votes on draft laws needed to receive IMF funds, as well as EU funds under the Ukraine Facility program. After that, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva visited Kyiv. As the Fund stated on the eve of her trip, one of the goals of the visit was to point out to the Ukrainian authorities the need to carry out reforms.

The current IMF Extended Fund Facility program for Ukraine in the amount of $15.6 billion is рассчитана for 2023–2027, but Kyiv asked the Fund to launch a new one. In November 2025, the IMF reported that staff-level agreements had been reached on a new program of about $8.2 billion. It is рассчитана for 48 months. It was planned that the IMF decision to begin implementing this program would be made in January, and the first payment would be made in the same month.

For several years Ukraine’s budget has been drawn up with a record deficit. Its own revenues made it possible to cover only its military items, and everything else is financed by Western aid. However, recently Kyiv has been negotiating with partners to get permission to use the funds they provide also for military needs. At the same time, most of the funds are allocated to Kyiv in the form of loans, not grants.

As former Ukrainian Prime Minister (2010–2014) Mykola Azarov noted, without Western lending Ukraine will cease to exist as a state.

On the eve of this, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticized the European Union’s idea of Russia paying reparations to Ukraine. According to him, Brussels is spending European taxpayers’ money on the war, counting on Russia’s defeat and subsequent reparations. Orbán recalled that the EU has already spent €193 billion on assistance to Ukraine, which Kyiv will never be able to repay Europe.