Ukraine must secure $56.5 billion by year-end, PM Koretsky tells YES forum
Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky said Ukraine faces two financial challenges before the end of 2026: $29.5 billion in macrofinancing under risk and $27 billion in new Defense Forces funding. Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum, he outlined a legislative roadmap and possible funding sources, while criticizing the pace of parliament's work.
Key points
- $29.5 billion is tied to the Ukrainian Support Loan and Ukraine Facility macrofinancing programs
- $27 billion is a new requirement for Ukraine's Defense Forces
- 42 government documents and 27 draft laws still needed to access the $29.5 billion
- PM pledged all draft laws in September and government resolutions by October 15
- Koretsky criticized parliament's pace and called on deputies to pass the laws regardless of politics
- Possible sources for $27 billion: accelerated Ukrainian Support Loan, frozen Russian assets, non-EU loans, budget optimization
Why it matters
Ukraine must mobilize roughly $56.5 billion combined before the end of 2026 to keep macrofinancing flowing and to fund its Defense Forces. Access to the $29.5 billion in confirmed funds depends on clearing a legislative and bureaucratic bottleneck — 27 draft laws and 42 government documents — within weeks. The $27 billion defense gap, by contrast, has no committed source and depends on a mix of new loans, frozen Russian assets and budget optimization, making it the more politically and diplomatically difficult piece.
What happened
Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum in a conversation with The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky laid out two financial blocks Ukraine must close by year-end. The first is $29.5 billion linked to the Ukrainian Support Loan and the Ukraine Facility, for which access requires 42 government documents and 27 draft laws. Koretsky said the government would submit all required draft laws in September and finalize its resolutions and decisions by October 15, tightening the original November 1 target. He also criticized parliament's pace and called on deputies to pass the laws regardless of political considerations, while offering full government cooperation in working groups. The second block is $27 billion in new Defense Forces needs covering the Special Operations Forces, SBU, border guards, National Guard and the Ministry of Defence. Possible sources he cited include accelerating the Ukrainian Support Loan, using frozen Russian assets, taking additional loans — not grants — from partners outside the European Union, and optimizing expenditures inside the Ukrainian budget. One source also reported that about 70 billion hryvnias in tax revenues may not reach the budget due to Russian attacks on business.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Both Ukrainian sources frame Koretsky's two-block financial picture as the central storyline and identify the parliamentary workload as the key political bottleneck. The government-agency source (Ukrinform) emphasizes the procedural tightening — moving completion of documents from November 1 to October 15 — and frames it as administrative progress. The media source (Liga.net/LB.ua) leads instead with Koretsky's criticism of deputies' pace and his appeal to put the funding laws above political interests.
Where reporting differs
The two source articles differ on the list of funding options for the $27 billion: one counts four options (accelerating the Ukrainian Support Loan, frozen Russian assets, additional non-EU loans, and budget optimization), while the other adds negotiations with European partners as a distinct fifth option. They also differ on the timeline — one notes an original government deadline of November 1 for completing the documents, against Koretsky's updated target of mid-October (October 15).
Background
The $29.5 billion is tied to two macrofinancing instruments: the Ukrainian Support Loan and the Ukraine Facility. Koretsky's remarks came during the Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum, in a conversation with The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes.