Adoption of the State Budget for 2022 is one of the most pressing issues in the last session weeks of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine this year. This was stated by Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Olena Kondratiuk during the Conciliation Council of the Parliamentary Factions and Groups.
According to the Vice Speaker, special attention should be paid to the commitments made by the authorities to receive a recent tranche from the International Monetary Fund and to continue cooperation with the fund. Namely, the approval of the State Budget for 2022 with a deficit that does not exceed 3.5% of GDP or about 188 billion UAH.
“The medical sphere, education and the Armed Forces of Ukraine must be fully funded, as defined by law. The education sector must be financed by at least 7% of GDP. All promises to increase salaries for educators must be fulfilled, because this is a very urgent issue,” Olena Kondratiuk said.
According to her, the proposed expenditures on medicine in the amount of UAH 197 billion proposed in the draft State Budget for 2022 are insufficient.
“Underfunding reaches UAH 100 billion, and this will negatively affect the quality of medical services for the population. We look forward to the results of the audit of the use of the Coronavirus Fund, which should be made public within the framework of agreements with the IMF by the end of December 2021,” the Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada stressed.