The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved the draft state budget for 2026, which will be submitted for consideration to the Verkhovna Rada. This was announced by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
This is reported by Finway
Main Financial Indicators of the 2026 Budget
The draft state budget for 2026 includes expenditures of 4.8 trillion hryvnias, which is 415 billion hryvnias more than in 2025. Revenues are planned at 2 trillion 826 billion hryvnias, which also represents an increase of 446.8 billion hryvnias or 18.8% compared to the previous year. The need for external financing is estimated at 2 trillion 79 billion hryvnias.
Funding Priorities: Defense and Social Resilience
Yulia Svyrydenko emphasized that the main priorities of the budget remain the security, defense, and social resilience of the country. All domestic revenues and borrowings are planned to be directed towards supporting the Defense Forces, providing for military personnel and their families, enhancing air defense, and developing and producing domestic weapons, including drones.
“All domestic revenues and borrowings are directed by the government to the Defense Forces — monetary support for military personnel and support for their families, strengthening air defense, developing and manufacturing domestic weapons, including drones. Defense: 2.8 trillion hryvnias (27.2% of GDP) for defense (+168.6 billion hryvnias compared to 2025),” she wrote in a Telegram message.
Additionally, the draft state budget allocates at least 44.3 billion hryvnias for the production of Ukrainian ammunition, missiles, anti-missile defense systems, as well as aviation and armored vehicles.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the budget formation is taking place amid ongoing active hostilities. This is why Ukraine has appealed to the International Monetary Fund for a new financing program, as “the draft state budget for 2026 has been formed with the understanding that the war is far from over.”
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko noted in August that Ukraine needs 45 billion dollars in external financing, which includes covering the budget deficit and servicing external debts.
According to the Ministry of Finance, within the framework of the current extended financing program of the IMF, Ukraine has already received nine tranches totaling about 10.6 billion dollars out of the planned 15.5 billion dollars for the period 2023-2027. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the International Monetary Fund has been the third largest source of financial assistance to Ukraine after the European Union and the United States.