In the Ukrainian budget for 2025, there is an increase in spending on ministries and agencies, but spending on education and medicine turned out to be half as much. This was stated by the head of the Verkhovna Rada's budget committee, Roksolana Pidlas, in an interview.
According to Pidlasa, the budget is balanced mainly at the expense of social expenses, as other sources do not allow this to be achieved. "Education and medicine are the next categories in terms of spending, and each of these budgets is half as much as spending on social welfare," she said, stressing that it will be difficult to optimize these expenses.
Significant reductions in expenditures affected the Pension Fund, where they decreased by UAH 34 billion. "The main burden of cuts falls on the Pension Fund. This is a point of tension, and it is not known whether it will remain in the final version of the budget," the deputy added. She assured that the reduction of Minsotsu programs will not affect people who receive assistance.
The head of the budget committee also noted that in the budget for 2025 expenses for ministries have increased. However, in her opinion, there was no increase in salaries of civil servants, only expenses. "Labour costs are expected to increase by 12.3%, but this is due to the grading system, which aims to unify salaries in state bodies," she explained.
The preservation of qualified personnel in the civil service remains an important issue. "We would not like to lose them, but a decision has been made to unify wages," Pidlasa emphasized.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the average salary in government bodies in August was about 55,000 hryvnias, but this number had a significant impact on vacations and "vacation" payments.
"And you go and try to reduce wages in anti-corruption bodies - it's impossible, I'll tell you honestly and openly. Plus, the average value was greatly affected by vacations and the payment of vacation pay, in the spring, for example, the average salary was lower," added Roksolana Pidlasa.
