Cour des comptes
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Ukraine's finance minister tells Rada country is in liquidity crisis, blames $29.5bn shortfall in partner aid
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told the Verkhovna Rada on 12 October that Ukraine's state budget has fallen roughly 50 billion hryvnia short of planned revenues over nine months of 2026, with 39 billion hryvnia in payments deferred to year's end and capital expenditures blocked. He attributed the squeeze to a $29.5 billion shortfall in expected partner support tied to delayed reforms under IMF, EU and World Bank programs. Marchenko said military pay and social programs remain fully funded, but the Rada must now pass dozens of reform-related bills to unlock the rest.
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EU Court of Auditors: 2030 defense readiness goal at risk due to US dependence, fragmented systems
The European Court of Auditors published a report on September 3 warning that the EU is unlikely to achieve its goal of defense readiness by 2030, citing continued dependence on the United States and the fragmentation of national defense systems. The audit, led by ECA member Marek Opiola, notes that despite a 79% rise in EU defense spending from 2020 to 2025, 78% of member states' defense procurement from February 2022 to June 2023 was conducted outside the bloc, with the United States accounting for 63% of that extra-bloc procurement.