Ukraine Passes Budget Changes to Finance Extra Defense Needs

Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has approved $10 billion in extra war spending at the defense ministry’s request.

Lawmakers voted in favor of the so-called “first reading” of the bill – the first round of voting on the document, after which lawmakers can make amendments to the bill before voting on it in a finalized version and submitting it to the president for signature.

The bill was voted positively by the Rada on Wednesday, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal’s Telegram update.

Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote that 257 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill in his Telegram post – 31 votes more than the 226 needed to move forward.

According to the bill, Ukraine will spend Hr.412.4 billion ($9.87 billion) on defense during the second half of 2025, of which Hr 215.9 billion ($5.17 billion) will go towards weapon and equipment procurement.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation will launch a new program in defense tech to purchase and test new solutions. This will require an additional Hr.3.4 billion ($81 million) from Ukraine’s budget.

The ministry will also need Hr.2.77 billion ($66 million) for its Innovation Development Fund.

War veterans and their families will get cash assistance and car insurance compensation from the budget, estimated to cost the state Hr.1.16 billion ($28 million) in total.

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Kremlin Warned: War Spending Is Breaking the Budget

Senior Russian officials have warned President Vladimir Putin that war spending in Ukraine is becoming unsustainable and risks widening the budget deficit, Bloomberg reports. Internal divisions are emerging between fiscal authorities calling for cuts and security officials pushing to maintain defence spending despite rising economic strain.

Ukraine will also increase non-military expenses aimed at social support.

For the second half of 2025, Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance plans to increase spending by 8.44%. At the same time, budget revenues are also expected to increase by 6.34%.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance presented a draft of state budget changes to accommodate the defense ministry’s request for an additional war-related expenditure. There is no room to increase taxes due to the lack of will from Ukrainian lawmakers, so the finance ministry is now turning to budget reallocation as its primary tool.