Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a lawmaker from the Holos party, said total budget spending for this year had been increased to a record €80.8 billion.
“This will allow not only better support for our military but will also strengthen the country’s defense capabilities,” Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said after the vote.
With Ukrainian troops defending over 1,000 km of front lines, demand for ammunition and weapons is growing and more money is required.
Ukraine has also increased the pace of mobilization and needs more funds to pay service personnel, with no sign of the war ending.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday on increasing the regular size of Russia’s army.
Umerov said €5.9 billion would go to
soldiers’ wages and other payments to families of the military. Another €1.65 billion would go on equipment to modernize the army, he said.
Roksolana Pidlasa, the head of parliament's budget committee, said each day’s fighting cost Kyiv about €126 million. She did not break down the costs.
Ukraine spends most of its state revenues on funding the national defense effort and relies on financial aid from its Western partners to be able to fund pensions, public sector wages and other social spending.
Revenue sources: tax hikes and loans
The finance ministry said that total budget spending was up by nearly 11%, reaching
€45.5 billion in the first eight months of the year.
The spending included about €20.9 billion on soldiers’ wages, ammunition, equipment and other military needs, it said in a statement.
To raise additional funds for the army for the rest of the year, the government plans to increase taxes and will borrow more from the domestic debt market, the finance ministry said.
Kyiv has also agreed to a deal to restructure over €17.96 billion of international debt, saving about €10.3 billion over the next three years.
The government plans to increase a war tax paid by residents to 5% from the current 1.5%, and will introduce additional war-related taxes for individual entrepreneurs and small businesses. It has already increased some import and fuel duties.
Parliament has given its initial approval to the planned tax hikes and is expected to vote for the bill in the final reading later this month or in early October.
Tax changes are expected to bring about €1.26 billion to the budget this year and about €2.97 billion next year, officials have said.
