Ukrainian government to provide US$1,800 of additional payment to military personnel on contact line

The government will be able to provide a one-time payment of UAH 70,000 (about US$1,800) to military personnel and police officers executing combat tasks on the line of contact, which will be covered by taxes and domestic government bonds.

Source: Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy

Details: Responding to a discussion on whether the government will have enough funds to make such payments, Hetmantsev explained how they will acquire the funds.

Quote: "First of all, at the expense of taxes, which we all shall all pay in readiness and understanding and at the rate required by our military. As much as needed. Second, because of domestic debt, there is more room for movement in terms of attracting resources, particularly banks," said the head of the committee.

At the same time, Hetmantsev commented on ideas that have gained popularity in social media, specifically the redistribution of budget funds intended to support the work of the national 24/7 newscast to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the reduction of the state apparatus to reduce the cost of lawmakers’ salaries.

"I will say this, last year under a general fund of the state budget, the maintenance of troops cost UAH 5 billion a day (about US$126 million). You can count yourselves how many days of the war we can fund, trying to save a few billions of hryvnias on ephemeral state expenditures. Yes, these are significant amounts as well but suggesting these funds as a solution is utter nonsense," Hetmantsev added.

He stressed that Ukraine should avoid funding at the expense of creating more money anyway.

Background:

• The Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) voted for a resolution obliging the government to develop a mechanism for an additional one-time payment of UAH 70,000 (about US$1,800) to soldiers performing combat tasks at the forefront, for every 30 days at the line of contact, Russian territory, and temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
• The Cabinet of Ministers approved a resolution authorising the one-time payment of UAH 70,000 (about US$1,800) to the personnel performing military operations on the line of contact, enemy territory, and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine for a total of 30 days.

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