In the Verkhovna Rada, it was stated that the treasury will not have enough money to pay the military’s salaries starting in November

There is an acute shortage of funds in the state budget: there will not be enough money to pay military salaries starting November 1.

This was reported by Roksolana Pidlasa, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament and Chair of the Budget Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

“Our deadline is dictated by the need to pay the military starting November 1. After November 1, there will still be some funds in the budget, but not enough,” Pidlasa said in the interview.

She noted that “the biggest problems arise with partner funds for financial support in the defense sector.” Negotiations are currently underway with the EU to cover the shortfall so that Brussels would, for the first time, allow the allocated aid to be used for military salaries. According to Pidlasa, EU governments are reluctant to do this because of “the mood of their electorates.”

“I think each country has its own situation. But overall, yes — using funds from frozen Russian assets or the assets themselves for Ukraine’s defense needs, including paying Ukrainian servicemen, is politically more acceptable for Europeans than using their taxpayers’ money,” the MP explained.

According to Pidlasa, the Cabinet of Ministers will submit amendments to the state budget to the Rada in early October.

For next year, a defense budget gap of $18 billion is also expected, which has not yet been confirmed as covered.

As a reminder, French President Emmanuel Macron opposed the European Commission’s proposal for a reparation loan plan for Ukraine, stating that confiscating frozen Russian assets and using them to support Ukraine could undermine trust in European financial institutions.