Deputy Ivchenko: funds for military payments will only last until the end of August

Ukrainian parliament member Vadim Ivchenko has stated that funds for the increased payments to Ukrainian servicemembers will only last until the end of August.

He announced this on Radio NV.

Ivchenko, who represents the Batkivshchyna party and sits on the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, attributed the situation to the actions of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. According to the deputy, Fedorov redistributed budget funds by mixing expenditure lines for servicemembers’ social benefits and payments under weapons manufacturers’ contracts.

“I’ll tell you where Fedorov got these funds. First, Fedorov allocated advances to weapons manufacturers — 70%. And the 30% that was directly held in the treasury for fulfilling contracts with all weapons manufacturers, he spent. What did he do next? He took out a euro loan. The first tranche of the euro loan was spent on paying that 30% to the companies that received contracts in January, in February, and so on… We had a delay — so you understand — when companies fulfilled contracts at the beginning of June but still couldn’t receive payment for their contracts,” Ivchenko said.

According to the deputy, “the funds intended for social benefits and wage payments were spent on advance payments under new contracts.” Ivchenko stressed that if there is no money, then “there is no need to experiment with what has already been approved in the budget.”

Earlier, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported that servicemembers would receive the promised additional approximately €195 “rear allowance” for June at the same time as other additional combat bonuses for that month — in the second half of July.