Oleksiy Danilov: Financing of the security and defense sector in the amount of 5,92% of GDP planned for 2021 is higher than in 2020

On Thursday, September 10, 2020, a meeting on the preparation of the defense budget for 2021 was held at the Staff of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov noticed that the amount of financing of the security and defense sector of Ukraine planned in the draft budget for 2021 amounts to 5,92% of GDP. He reminded that the corresponding figure for 2020 was 5,45% of GDP.

"The increase in expenditures is the principled stance of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on issues of national security", - the NSDC Secretary stressed.

The issue of increasing the amount of funding for the security and defense sector was considered by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine to implement the protocol decision following the meeting held on September 3 this year.

At today's meeting, the participants made proposals for financing the needs of the security and defense sector next year.

Following the discussion, the NSDC Secretary proposed to the subjects of the security and defense sector to analyze the state of relevant funding in the I-III quarters of 2020 and prepare by October 15, this year, reports on the use of funds.

At the same time, the Secretary of the Council drew attention to the importance of improving the efficiency of their use.

First Deputy Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Colonel-General Mykhailo Koval, Vice Prime Minister - Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleh Urusky, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko, Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture of Ukraine Svitlana Panaiotidi, Deputy Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Oleksandr Yakushev, State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Oleksiy Takhtay, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine Valery Kondratyuk, Head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine Yuriy Shchyhol, First Deputy Head of the Main Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Oleh Ivashchenko, First Deputy Head of the Department of the State Guard of Ukraine Vyacheslav Shtuchny, Acting Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine Volodymyr Kondratyuk, Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Mykola Chechotkin, Acting Chairman of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Volodymyr Nikiforenko, First Deputy Chairman of the State Migration Service of Ukraine Natalia Naumenko, heads of profile services of the NSDC Staff.