REUTERS
Purchase of modern weapons and military equipment for the Ukrainian army will be funded with the seized assets belonging to criminals from the previous government who fled to Russia, according to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who spoke at a ceremony of transfer of arms and military equipment to the Ukrainian military in Kharkiv.
"UAH 11 billion is planned this year for the purchase of modern weaponry. A significant share of that money has a specific source of coverage – the assets confiscated from the criminals of the previous government, the money they had stolen, and now [the money] is under arrest,” said the president. “Why should it lay there? Why can’t it work for the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian army? That is why we are waiting for two important decisions of the Verkhovna Rada – regarding justice in absentia against the criminals who escaped to Russia and regarding a special confiscation procedure, to allocate funds for the production of modern weapons."
Read alsoRada adopts special confiscation bill in first readingAs UNIAN reported earlier, according to the 2016 Ukraine budget, the financing of the country's defense sector amounts to more than UAH 110 billion. In particular, the Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry budgets rose by 21% - to UAH 55.6 billion and UAH 40.8 billion, respectively.