Ukraine’s Defense Budget to Increase by Almost 15% in 2018

Ukraine’s draft budget for 2018 stipulates allocating 164.9 billion hryvhas ($6.34 billion) to the defense and security sector, which is a 14.8 percent increase compared to 2017, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said Friday.

“The defense budget will increase — 164.9 billion hryvhas will be allocated in 2018. This is the salary of our soldiers, high-quality technical equipment and armament,” Groysman said, when presenting the draft state budget at the cabinet meeting.

He noted that the government had allocated 143.6 billion hryvhas ($5.5 billion) to the defense needs this year.