All “Mindic’s schemes” must be cleaned out of next year’s budget – Eurosolidarity MPs
The draft State Budget for 2026 will remain until the second reading, including all non-targeted expenditures intended for corruption schemes, said Nina Yuzhanina, a member of parliament from the European Solidarity faction, during a briefing.
She is convinced that all released funds should be directed to defense needs and social spending.
“With such impoverishment of Ukrainians, with such high-profile corruption scandals, we insist: the draft budget for 2026 must be completely revised. The state budget must be free of corruption schemes laid down by Mindich’s criminal group, which has been operating in the country for years,” Yuzhanina emphasized.
The deputy noted that the 200 billion currently reserved in the Ministry of Finance should be allocated to the security and defense sector under specific programs. This will ensure the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, training of personnel, and medical support for personnel.
“The authorities, until the second reading, were unable to direct the remaining funds of the Social Insurance Fund for Unemployment to the Pension Fund to increase minimum pensions, rather than finance investments, industrial parks, and cashbacks. We need real social support, not blind distribution of funds,” Yuzhanina said.
According to her, bringing income from the gambling business, alcohol and tobacco sales out of the shadows could generate additional revenues of up to 34 billion hryvnias.
“We do not understand how we can leave ineffective and populist expenditures of over 68 billion hryvnias. Why do we allow the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Accounting Office, the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers, the State Administration of Affairs to spend more on their maintenance compared to even 2025? Why are we leaving 5.5 billion hryvnias again for a telethon and strategic communications?” Yuzhanina was indignant.
“36 billion — in the budget for development expenditures. 13.7 billion — investment projects of the Ministry of Communities. What trace of “Mindichgate” is there in this Ministry? Can we now leave huge funds in the form of opaque and non-specific programs, according to which the investment council will someday determine what these projects will be?” the MP noted.
In her opinion, under high-profile names that may appeal to Ukrainians, a huge resource is invested without understanding the purpose of spending these funds.
“Instead of reducing 68 billion in ineffective and populist expenditures, the authorities added another 7 billion to the second reading. What are these funds? 4.3 billion — the purchase of passenger cars. A beautiful program, supposedly it is necessary to update the stock of cars, but if you look closely, this is a huge number of cars that are not even produced by the manufacturing plant,” Yuzhanina explained.
She believes that the government that prepared this draft budget does not want openness and transparency – they are presenting figures that conceal completely different expenditures.
“This project should be withdrawn by the government, finalized. They should show us how qualitatively they were able to reformat the budget in order to direct all resources to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We see 300 billion hryvnias, which should be directed to the main programs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is our own resource,” Yuzhanina said.
People’s Deputy Rostyslav Pavlenko added that Ukraine needs assistance from allies to implement the budget, and for this, it is necessary to restore the trust that was shaken as a result of “Mindichgate.”
“What is needed to restore trust? The first is to show that Ukraine, its society, and politicians have learned lessons from what was exposed by anti-corruption agencies,” Pavlenko is convinced.
According to him, all those involved, everyone mentioned, must be held responsible, not just the two ministers and Yermak.
“But also Pronin, who instead of financial intelligence was engaged in political persecution and imposing sanctions on Poroshenko,” the People’s Deputy believes.
“We need to de-mindicize the budget and de-ermakize management. It is necessary to create a single coalition of Ukrainian factions in the Verkhovna Rada, and a government that would be based on this coalition would be in the ideology of protecting Ukraine, would work with partners and Ukrainian enterprises. In order for the budget to be filled and our army to be provided for. Without this, we will not achieve such results,” Pavlenko emphasized.
“We have seen that the policy of naming those involved in the corruption scandal does not yield results. It is necessary to remove obstacles to parliamentary diplomacy. Diplomacy should involve both deputies and experts, and all those who have trust and who can conduct effective negotiations,” Pavlenko summarized.
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