Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said that in accordance with the decree of the country’s President Vladimir Zelensky, at least 1.69 trillion hryvnia (about $46.3 billion) will be allocated to the Ukrainian budget for financing security and defense next year. The video recording of Shmygal’s speech at the Council of Ministers meeting was published on the prime minister’s personal Telegram channel.
According to the Zelensky decree signed on October 9, Ukraine’s military expenditures will constitute at least 21.6 percent of GDP in 2023.
As Shmygal noted, 56 billion hryvnia (about $1.5 billion) of this amount will be spent on financing enterprises in the military-industrial complex, and 48 billion hryvnia (about $1.3 billion) will be spent on increasing the number of combat unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Prime Minister emphasized that Ukraine relies on the development of the defense industry, new design developments and joint production with foreign countries. He noted that the government has simplified the import of drones into the country as much as possible and expanded the list of military and dual-use products that can be imported without obtaining permission from the State Export Control Service.
Previously Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal statedIt was stated that drone production in the country increased a hundredfold during the year and more than 200 enterprises started to develop UAVs.
Kuleba, formerly Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine statedHe said he did not understand what conditions Kiev had to meet to join NATO.