Russian Strikes on Business Hit the Budget: UAH 73 Billion Shortfall

The biggest losses fell on the last three months and are linked to the growth of Russian attacks on business and the blockade of seaports.

In January–October 2026, about UAH 2 trillion in taxes and other payments was received by the general fund of Ukraine's state budget. At the same time, actual revenues turned out to be UAH 73.7 billion lower than planned. Moreover, most of this amount – UAH 56.2 billion – fell on August–October alone, reported the Chair of the parliamentary Budget Committee Roksolana Pidlasa.

Among the main reasons for the revenue shortfall, she named intensified Russian strikes on Ukrainian business and blocked seaports.

According to Pidlasa, the main sources of budget revenue remain taxes on imports, citizens' incomes and enterprise profits. The most over ten months came from import VAT – UAH 548.7 billion. Another UAH 287 billion came from personal income tax, UAH 280.2 billion – from VAT on goods produced in Ukraine, and UAH 278.4 billion – from corporate profit tax.

Despite the overall lag behind the plan, for some items revenues even exceeded expectations. In particular, corporate profit tax brought the budget UAH 32.9 billion more than planned, personal income tax – UAH 5.9 billion, and import excise duty – UAH 4.7 billion.

However, these additional revenues proved insufficient to offset the failure in other taxes. The budget lost the most on import VAT – UAH 47.5 billion, VAT on goods produced in Ukraine – UAH 44.7 billion, and domestic excise duty – UAH 29.8 billion.

"Overall, the largest taxes and fees were not met by UAH 132 billion (against the 10-month plan)", – Pidlasa stressed. Part of this shortfall was offset by overperformance in other revenue sources.

At the same time, the state's needs remain extremely large. In January–October, UAH 2.2 trillion was directed to defence – this is 60.3% of all expenditures of the general fund of the budget. Another UAH 487.4 billion went to repaying domestic and external debt, UAH 380.5 billion – to social protection and support for veterans, and UAH 305.8 billion – to servicing debt obligations.

UAH 161 billion was used for medical programmes and health screening, and UAH 130.4 billion for teachers' salaries. Separately, the state receives funds from international partners: over ten months, more than USD 25 billion of international assistance was used to finance general fund expenditures.

Another source of financing was military bonds. UAH 387.9 billion was channelled to the budget from their placement over ten months. In October alone, this amount increased by almost UAH 26 billion. However, the state's own revenues are not enough to cover all planned needs by the end of the year.

According to Pidlasa, Ukraine expects the second tranche of macro-financial assistance from the European Union and a new tranche of the Ukraine Facility programme of USD 8 billion. "Without donor funds, there are risks of not carrying out either military or social expenditures in the planned amounts", – warned the chair of the budget committee.

As reported, on 29 October the Verkhovna Rada voted for the draft law on the 2027 state budget in the first reading. The document was supported by 239 MPs.

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Source: Korrespondent.net (ua.korrespondent.net), https://ua.korrespondent.net/business/economics/4925706-udary-rf-po-biznesu-vdaryly-po-buidzhetu-brakuie-73-mlrd-hrn

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