Ukraine's Finance Minister estimates funding deficit for 2026 at EUR 16 bln

Due to the protracted war, Ukraine will need more external funding next year than this year to cover the state budget deficit, currently the uncovered funding for the deficit next year is EUR 16 billion, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.

"We need more money than this year. This year there was more of it [than last year]. We have not yet seen the final stage of this war, so we need to prepare. I need to cover EUR 16 billion for next year," he said at the 20th annual YES conference "How to End the War?" organized in Kyiv on September 12-13 by the Pinchuk Foundation.

Marchenko added that the calculations are still ongoing, and Ukraine hopes to find a common language with partners on financing next year, because this is a key issue.

Regarding the initiative of a reparations loan to Ukraine secured by frozen Russian assets, which was announced this week by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the minister noted that European colleagues are very creative.

"They are able to prepare various mechanisms that help us use frozen [Russian] assets without actual confiscation," Marchenko believes.

He welcomed these efforts, but clarified that the debate on a specific mechanism is still ongoing and he is not going to spoil them.

As reported, on August 18, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko estimated the financial gap for 2026-2027, which is currently not closed by confirmed sources of funding, at $37 billion. According to him, the necessary external financing for 2026 is $45 billion, but it will be partially covered by the accumulated reserve of funds from international financing received this year.