According to the Minister of Finance, the return of surcharges spoke not in support of the army, but in favor of the military leadership, which determined the system of motivation for the army.
Additional payments to the Ukrainian army in the amount of 30,000 hryvnia can be refunded only with an increase in the tax burden, in particular VAT, by 4% and a tripling of the military tax. This was announced on May 2, 2023 by Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko in the Forbes Business Breakfast publication.
According to him, the issue of returning payments in the amount of 30,000 hryvnia is not about supporting the army. Because the system of motivation for payments to the army must be determined by the military leadership. According to Marchenko, this should be addressed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Ministry of Defense.
“And they decided, they got the relevant orders, for some reason no one says that we have 50,000 other than 30 and 100 thousand. And quite a lot of military personnel will receive such a payment. We have other motivational systems within the military bloc,” he said.
He noted that the Ministry of Finance agreed with such a system.
“And when there is populism, it is difficult to control the scale. Well, I will not choose words, saying that maybe we will think and count. It is impossible to count and finance it,” stressed Sergei Marchenko.
He noted that it is possible to return additional payments only after changes in the budget law, an additional 170 billion UAH per year, taxes including VAT by 4% and military tax by 3 times.
“There are no other options as to how this can be financed.”
According to Marchenko, it is impossible to receive funds for these needs from other categories, for example, from civil servants’ salaries, since they are financed by international aid.
“But the army, I emphasize once again, we must finance our own business from taxes. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the consequences of such steps by increasing the expenditure on the army. For some reason, no one thinks about this when voting. Therefore, my reaction was categorical and I will not change it,” summarized the head of the Ministry of Finance.
Recall that the supreme military command of Ukraine asked the Verkhovna Rada to postpone the consideration of the draft law No. 8312 on the return of additional payments to the army in the amount of 30 thousand hryvnia. The appeal was signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov, the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Border Service, the General Staff, the Security Service of Ukraine and the commander. From the National Guard.
People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak argued that the Ukrainian budget does not have 98% of the amount required to pay allowances to the army during the year.
Source: Focus
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