Military tax should not go to E-banking, but to indexation of financial support in the Armed Forces – Poroshenko
Funds from the military tax should be used for the indexation of financial support for the Armed Forces – this was stated by Petro Poroshenko at a briefing. He announced that the faction “European Solidarity” registered relevant bills 15177 and 15138-1, which allow for increased payments to Ukrainian defenders as early as the second half of this year.
“All funds received from the military tax should be credited to the special fund and spent exclusively on supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine, specifically on increasing and indexing the financial support of military personnel,” said the fifth President.
Poroshenko also noted that the authorities spend about 100 billion UAH on populist expenditure items. “If in 2023 the military tax brought 40 billion UAH to the State Budget, in 2024 it was 51 billion UAH, last year it was already 163 billion UAH, and this year it is expected to bring in 198.3 billion UAH. The authorities used these funds on absolute populism. On E-banking 5 billion UAH, pitching (something related to cinema) – 4 billion UAH, screening – another initiative of the authorities in healthcare – 10 billion UAH, ‘unified marathon’ – 5.5 billion UAH, cashback – 7 billion UAH, ‘winter support’ – 18 billion UAH, ‘3 thousand kilometers from Ukrzaliznytsia’ – another 16 billion UAH, new initiative from the authorities for 1.5 thousand – another 20 billion UAH. If you sum it up, it comes to 100 billion UAH,” Poroshenko observed.
“At the same time, the amount of financial support, established by law, is 20,000 UAH and has not changed since 2022. Every time we meet with the military, the main question is why is the financial support not indexed? Prices are rising, inflation is rising, and for 4 years there has been no increase. Prices in Ukraine have risen by more than 50%, but financial support for military personnel has not. And that is why we demand the correction of this injustice,” Poroshenko explains.
He also noted that the total expenditure of the Ministry of Defense on monetary provision has decreased, unlike law enforcement agencies and the state apparatus: “even the technical staff of the Verkhovna Rada, in particular, the head of the apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada, have significantly increased their monetary provision. However, the most in need of social protection are our DBR investigators. Their monetary provision is supposed to increase by 183%, and these are the investigators involved in political persecutions and receiving bribes,” Poroshenko said.
“The special fund requires appropriate changes to the current year’s budget and the Budget Code so that from next year the military levy would also go exclusively to the needs of increasing the monetary provision of our Armed Forces. Bills have been registered, and we hope other factions will join our initiative,” Poroshenko said.
The party leader is also convinced that funds from military bonds should go exclusively into a special fund for defense needs: “because when a Ukrainian, an individual, or a legal entity goes to buy military bonds, they genuinely believe they are supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But it turns out, they are being deceived,” Poroshenko expressed indignantly.
“European Solidarity” also insists that at least 20% of the so-called military personal income tax, which was once taken from community budgets by the authorities, be returned directly to brigade accounts: “the authorities took these funds from local budgets, took them from brigades, and sent them to Mr. Mindich, sent them to corrupt individuals to continue lining their pockets. The government does not intend to draw conclusions from the Mindichgate. We, ‘European Solidarity,’ will press on for the participants of these Mindich recordings to be dismissed, held accountable, and for the financial flows to be redirected to brigades instead of fueling corruption,” Poroshenko emphasized.
“The authorities are spending one hundred billion hryvnias, it is not enough for them, which is why they are planning to continue increasing taxes, destroying our economy to ensure these unnecessary populist initiatives. They are taking money from the Armed Forces, which heroically defend the state and ensure our path to the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union,” Petro Poroshenko emphasized.
Nina Yuzhanina on the special fund for the military levy: a legal source for the indexing of monetary provision of the Armed Forces is needed
People’s Deputy from the “European Solidarity” faction, Nina Yuzhanina, during a briefing, stated that the issue of financial support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is regulated manually through Cabinet resolutions, and indexation has not been conducted since 2022. Yuzhanina said that the draft laws 15177 and 15138-1, registered by “European Solidarity” deputies, allow for an increase in payments to Ukrainian defenders this year and provide a legal source for such indexation in 2027.
“Payments are regulated solely by Cabinet resolutions, and thus we have a complex system of calculating financial support. It looks like manual regulation, non-transparent and not linked to the real annual rate of inflation at all. We need to continue working so that from the second half of this year, the State Budget for 2026 includes a provision to increase financial support through a special fund where the military levy will be directed,” the deputy believes.
The military levy is paid by citizens who equate the military levy exclusively with expenditures on the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuzhanina emphasizes.
“The next changes, apart from the State Budget for this year, should concern budget planning from January 1, 2027. The special fund should be directed exclusively to the annual indexation of military financial support. We will help the authorities with indexation because they say there is no guaranteed source of funding, no stable mechanism for conducting annual indexation. Therefore, we proposed it. While the authorities say they will not forget the servicemen, we will ensure there is truly a legal source for indexation of financial support, so these are law norms,” notes Yuzhanina.
She also stated that the increase in payroll funds constantly occurs in both law enforcement agencies and civilian ministries. For example, in the Ministry of Energy, expenditures on wages have increased by 160% since 2023, and in the Ministry of Development – by 122%. Only in the Ministry of Defense, a decrease in payroll funds is recorded – 94%.
“We need to eliminate this injustice. And there’s another injustice. We pointed it out in our projects. We must force the authorities to review the distribution of the military personal income tax. So that when preparing the State Budget law for the next year, at least 20% of the military personal income tax is provided for brigades. If they had more funds in the budget, it would be a completely different situation,” Nina Yuzhanina is convinced.
The military tax should go to the army, not the government’s populism.
In 2023, 40 billion UAH from the military tax was received, in 2024 — 51 billion, last year — already 163 billion, and this year nearly 200 billion UAH is expected. But where is this money going?
Instead of supporting our defenders — to e-banking, cashbacking, screening, facting, and other populist programs, on which the government spends over 100 billion UAH. Meanwhile, military personnel’s financial provisions have not changed since 2022 and amount to only 20,000 UAH.
Brigades are forced to turn to volunteers instead of having their own funds for urgent needs. And the government has taken these resources and directed them to Mindichas.
European Solidarity is introducing specific bills: redirecting the military tax and military bonds to a special fund for army needs, allocating at least 20% of military income tax for brigades.
The money should go to those who fight, not those who fill their pockets.
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| During this time, the salaries of military personnel have not been indexed since 2022. Meanwhile, inflation has eaten over 50% of the value of money. Prices are rising, family expenses for military personnel are increasing, but the salaries of our soldiers remain the same as four years ago. Meanwhile, the government spends money on populism.
This is unacceptable injustice. Recently, we achieved that money from the military tax goes to the military and defense. Now, it’s necessary to redistribute taxes from the government’s populist programs and direct them to support our soldiers. European Solidarity has submitted bills for this and will fight for it. * * * Real facting, checking, and e-banking — is when the government spends 100 billion not on the Armed Forces and defense, but on its populist programs. We will continue to fight this. |
