Ukraine's Ministry of Finance has postponed capital expenditures from the state budget that were originally planned for the autumn period. This was announced by Roksolana Pydlasa, head of the Budget Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, in the podcast "Chronicles of the Economy," as reported by RBC-Ukraine. According to her, this primarily concerns funds for protecting energy infrastructure and preparing the country for winter, as well as a number of infrastructure and construction projects whose financing had to be shifted to the end of the year due to a budget shortfall.

What exactly was moved to December

The list of postponed capital expenditures includes the construction and renovation of hospitals, the building of shelters in medical institutions and schools, as well as the construction of social housing and similar projects. Pydlasa explained that capital expenditures refer specifically to construction and renovation work, and it is these that ended up at risk. She emphasized that the formal postponement of such spending to December effectively means that, in practice, they will not be funded in the current year, since it will be physically impossible to complete the corresponding work in the remaining time.

Scale of the postponement: 39 billion hryvnias

According to the head of the relevant committee, the government had to postpone 39 billion hryvnias of capital expenditures over the period from September to December. This volume indicates that the adjustment affects not individual projects but a significant part of the budget's investment program. Pydlasa stated outright that the budget situation remains difficult, which is why parliament insists that international obligations be met in a timely and steady manner, rather than with delays.

Social payments are preserved

Despite the postponement of capital items, the state continues to fund current social needs. This primarily concerns the payment of wages to employees of the budget sector, which, according to Pydlasa, are being maintained. Thus, the budget adjustment is aimed primarily at deferring long-term infrastructure and construction projects, while regular social obligations remain a priority.

Contradictory data

There is a nuance in media publications and in Pydlasa's own wording that is important to distinguish. Some outlets, including RBC-Ukraine, use the word "frozen" in their headlines, whereas the statement text and other sources use the phrasing "postponed to December." Moreover, the formal postponement to December contradicts Pydlasa's own practical assessment: in her words, this year these expenditures "will not be funded at all, because it will simply be impossible to do so." Thus, one version describes the postponement as a technical deferral of payment, while the other — as a de facto loss of financing for the current year; both viewpoints are presented in the sources, and the final outcome will depend on the government's decisions in December.

Context: economic crisis and the 2027 budget draft

The postponement of spending is taking place against the backdrop of the overall assessment of the economy's state. Minister of Economy and Environment Oleksandr Kravchenko stated that the economy is in a crisis situation, including due to standstills during air-raid alerts, and noted that businesses could benefit from differentiated signals. In parallel, the Cabinet of Ministers has prepared a draft state budget for 2027, which provides for allocating 4.89 trillion hryvnias to the security and defense sector, updating social standards with an increase in the minimum wage to 9,546 hryvnias, and a state budget deficit of 1.67 trillion hryvnias. These parameters set the framework within which the current adjustment of autumn capital expenditures is taking place.