PM Koretskyy warns of critical state finances, urges Rada to pass laws needed for $29.5 billion in financing
Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyy said the country's state finances are close to critical and called on MPs to urgently adopt draft laws required to unlock $29.5 billion in international financing. The Cabinet has moved its own deadline for 42 required decisions from 1 November to 15 October, but an MP says the Rada lacks the votes and none of the required bills are on the near-term agenda.
Key points
- PM Serhiy Koretskyy said Ukraine's state finances are close to critical, in a Telegram post after a meeting with G7 and EU ambassadors, the Rada chairman, ministers and MPs.
- $29.5 billion in international financing is needed to balance the state budget, fund social spending and the Defence Forces.
- Ukraine risks losing a significant share of that financing if it misses the established deadlines.
- The Cabinet of Ministers must implement 42 decisions; the deadline was moved from 1 November to 15 October.
- The government will send all MPs and relevant committees a schedule with clear deadlines for each required vote.
- According to MP Vasylevska-Smahliuk, the Rada lacks the votes and its near-term agenda contains none of the required draft laws.
Why it matters
Ukraine faces an imminent fiscal crunch: a $29.5 billion financing package from international partners is on the line if legislative deadlines are missed, while a $27 billion defence budget deficit and close to $10 billion in infrastructure damage from Russian attacks in 2026 already strain public finances. The immediate political pressure point is coordination between the Cabinet and the Verkhovna Rada on legislation tied to IMF, World Bank and EU-integration conditions.
What happened
Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyy used a Telegram post to warn that Ukraine's state finances are close to critical and to urge the Verkhovna Rada to adopt as soon as possible the draft laws required for international financial assistance. He made the statement after a meeting with ambassadors of G7 countries and EU member states, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, ministers, MPs and heads of parliamentary committees, at which participants discussed the need for coordinated government-parliament action to secure the financing.
The $29.5 billion in question is intended to balance the state budget and cover social spending and the needs of the Defence Forces. The Cabinet of Ministers must itself implement 42 required decisions; the original target of 1 November has been moved forward to 15 October because of the difficulty of the situation. The government will officially send every MP and the relevant parliamentary committees a schedule with clear deadlines for each vote, and officials say they are ready to work through every draft law, formulation and norm with MPs to secure adoption.
The required legislation includes bills linked to IMF and World Bank conditions and to European integration — among them anti-corruption draft laws that MPs had to return to the agenda separately, a new Customs Code already supported in first reading in August, and contested tax reform.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Both supplied sources are Ukrainian outlets and frame the story around the prime minister's warning, presenting it as a critical, time-bound problem of budget and parliamentary coordination. They stress both the domestic fiscal stakes — defence and social spending — and the external conditionality attached to the financing.
Where reporting differs
The two sources point in opposite directions on parliamentary readiness. The prime minister says the government will send MPs a schedule with clear deadlines and that officials are ready to work through every draft law. MP Vasylevska-Smahliuk, by contrast, says the Rada lacks the votes to adopt the required decisions and that none of the required draft laws are on the agenda for the near-term sitting.
Background
Ukraine's defence budget deficit was put at $27 billion by the prime minister earlier, with the rising cost of the war cited as the cause. The Ministry of Economy estimates that Russian attacks caused nearly $10 billion in damage to Ukrainian infrastructure in 2026. The legislative package required to unlock international financing includes anti-corruption bills, a new Customs Code that the Rada backed in first reading in August, and tax reform that remains disputed.