Ukraine's government to okay draft budget for 2017 on Thursday

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers plans to approve a draft national budget for 2017 at its meeting on Thursday, September 15, and it will be tabled in parliament, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said.

"The draft budget for 2017 will be approved by the government tomorrow with [subsequent] submission to parliament," he said at a government meeting on Wednesday.

The government will meet in the latter half of the day on September 15 to consider the draft budget he said.

Groysman also recalled that the National Security and Defense Council met on September 13 to consider defense and security funding, and following debates, the Finance Ministry would finalize the draft national budget on Wednesday.

In keeping with Ukrainian laws, the government should table a draft budget for next year before September 15 the current year. However, in the past decade, the Cabinet used to table it to parliament and immediately withdraw for finalization.

As was reported, Groysman on September 8 announced that the draft budget for 2017 would be sent to parliament in September. He promised that the document would be "fair."

"[This will be] the budget, which is fair for two reasons - real revenue and absolutely transparent distribution of this revenue for the needs of the country and Ukrainian citizens," he said.

In his words, the major priorities set by the government during the formation of the draft national budget are national security and defense.

Other government priorities for the next year include economic growth and infrastructure development, support for decentralization, support of farmers, more active introduction of energy efficiency, and an increase in teacher salaries, he said.