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Negotiations to win support of the sufficient number of MPs to have the bill adopted are underway.
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, will consider the draft law on the state budget for 2021 on December 15, its Chairman Dmytro Razumkov has announced.
"We will do it on Tuesday," Razumkov said, speaking on the air of a Ukrainian TV channel.
"I hope that the committee will have time ... to prepare this document that’s so important for the state," parliament speaker added. "And next week, on Tuesday, we will be able to start considering it and I hope we will calmly pass it so that we don't have to work on one of those so-called New Year's budget nights," Razumkov said.
To clarify whether there is an understanding between the people's deputies and whether there will be enough votes for the adoption, Razumkov said negotiations to determine positions were still ongoing.
Razumkov also recalled that as of today "there are no plans to create a covid fund." "But funds are envisaged in each of the industries to eliminate or combat the coronavirus," he added.
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Also, in his opinion, the financing of education will not change "globally" either.
Budget 2021: Background
The draft national budget for 2021, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on September 14, 2020, provides for revenues at UAH 1.07 trillion (US$38 billion) and spending at UAH 1.35 trillion (US$47.5 billion). The deficit is laid down at 6% of GDP next year. Budget deficit cap is set at UAH 270 billion (US$9.5 billion).
The national budget draft also envisages UAH 104 billion (US$3.7 billion) in benefits and subsidies. In total, social expenditures stand at UAH 323 billion (US$11.4 billion).
Deputy Chairman of the Holos (Voice) faction, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Yaroslav Zheleznyak earlier said that lawmakers submitted more than 2,400 amendments to the draft law on the 2021 national budget.
On November 5, a bill on the draft budget passed its first reading. While presenting the document in parliament, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said his ministry had increased the amount of spending in the bill by over UAH 20 billion (US$703 million).
On November 27, the draft law on the national budget for 2021, finalized for the second reading, has been submitted for consideration.