On June 11, the day after the Rada adopted changes to the 2026 state budget, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko met with the leaders of parliamentary factions. The main thing the MPs learned from her was figures that had not been heard in public rhetoric until then.
270 billion hryvnias — and that's just to stay in place
According to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Svyrydenko acknowledged that the current funding deficit for the army without any changes in salaries amounts to approximately 150 billion hryvnias. Another 120 billion is needed for the military pay reform — meaning a total of 270 billion hryvnias just to pay more without going into debt.
«The Prime Minister reported that the funding deficit for the army is currently around 150 billion hryvnias. To implement the announced military pay reform, an additional 120 billion hryvnias is needed.»
Yaroslav Zheleznyak, MP from "Holos," Telegram
This is particularly telling against the backdrop of the fact that on June 10, parliament adopted bill №15224 with 242 votes — increasing the defense budget by 1.56 trillion hryvnias through an EU loan under the Ukraine Support Loan. In total, defense and security spending is expected to reach a record 4.4 trillion hryvnias, of which over 1.45 trillion is for military personnel compensation. But, as Zheleznyak explains, even these changes do not provide sufficient funds to close current needs, let alone increases.
«Promised again»
The key word in Herashchenko's report is «again». According to Obozrevatel, at the meeting Poroshenko harshly raised the question of pay increases and service terms, and Irina Herashchenko, co-chair of the «Euroslid» faction, noted that Svyrydenko once again promised to submit the reform in July. According to lb.ua, during the adoption of the 2026 budget in December 2025, a "Servant of the People" deputy told the publication that «the amendment on partial military salary increases was completely ignored by the government.»
The announced reform involves increasing minimum cash allowance from 20 to over 30 thousand hryvnias. The financing of changes is planned mainly through redistribution of internal resources of the Ministry of Defense — not through new revenues. From July 1, 2026, the military levy will be directed to a special fund specifically for military payments.
A mechanism that doesn't exist yet
The problem is not just money. The reform still exists in the format of a promise: the bill has not been submitted, the financing mechanism has not been defined, service terms remain an open question. Poroshenko also demanded at the meeting that 40 billion hryvnias previously withdrawn from the Ministry of Defense budget be returned.
The Rada just adopted a record defense budget — and at the same time officially confirmed that even it is not enough for basic payments. The July promise will carry weight only if the reform is accompanied by a 120 billion hryvnia funding source: if the government submits a bill without tying it to specific revenues — it will be just another document on paper.
