Budget of Ukraine for 2015

The official budget of Ukraine for 2015 was adopted on December 29, 2014. 233 deputies voted for the resolution. The decision was not easy. Repeatedly there have been attempts to postpone the decision-making for 2015. Nevertheless, the government's financial potential for Ukraine's development was determined by the government.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk on the budget for 2015

Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced publicly that the adopted budget is not ideal as an ideal one. According to him, this year 80 billion hryvnias were allocated for defense, and if we take into account all the additional items of expenditure - the amount will be equal to 90 billion hryvnia. Public information was provided that starting from January 7, the government will work with creditors, with parallel information on the situation. According to the Prime Minister, who submitted the bill for consideration, amendments to it had to be made already on February 15. This should have been accompanied by negotiations with representatives of the IMF and persons from other international organizations.

What is the basis of the document?

The budget of Ukraine, which is an important state document, was formed on the basis of a pessimistic forecast. In the explanatory note, the emphasis is on the fact that the forecast taken for the basic development of the state in 2015 is 10 times worse than the situation described by the IMF. The approach ensured minimization of risks. The state budget of Ukraine was based on the fall of GDP by 4.3% with inflation of at least 13.1%. All calculations were carried out at a dollar rate of 17 hryvnia. The course itself was presented not by the National Bank of the country, but by experts in the field of economics.

Budget of Ukraine in figures

The income of Ukraine in accordance with the plans should correspond to 475.2 billion hryvnia. Expenses - not more than 527.1 billion hryvnia. The maximum allowable deficit should not exceed 63.6 billion hryvnia, or 3.7% of GDP. According to preliminary forecasts, the volume of borrowings in 2015 should not exceed 279.68 billion hryvnia, which is 23.16 billion more than in 2014. The volume of foreign borrowings will increase to UAH 166.81 billion, which is 82.66 billion hryvnia more than last year. Domestic debt will remain at the level of 112.87 billion hryvnia, which is less by 59.7 billion hryvnia than in 2014.

Life in economy

The budget of Ukraine in 2015 provides for austerity. Political scientists say that this decision will not be accompanied by cardinal reforms. In accordance with the pessimistic scenario, this year it is planned to reduce the amount of wages by 4.4%, which is an average of UAH 3,880. The volumes of foreign trade will be reduced by 8.9% in exports and by 12.8% in imports. The subsistence minimum will be raised only once. From December 1, 2015, it will be 1,300 hryvnia. At the moment, the figure corresponds to 1,176 hryvnia. The minimum wage, which is now 1,176 hryvnia, will be increased to UAH 1,378 by the end of the year. The size of the minimum pension is planned to increase by only 32 hryvnia, to the level of 981 hryvnia. In the future, it is planned to restore the Donbas, for which the government has provided 300 million hryvnia. This is the construction of new facilities, and major repairs, and a comprehensive reconstruction of the infrastructure.

Two alternative scenarios

The budget of Ukraine for 2015 was based on a pessimistic scenario of developments. A positive option, within which an insignificant improvement in the state's economy is envisaged, requires drastic changes not only in the sphere of legislation, but also in the tax code. An optimistic scenario, which was decided not to be taken into account when drawing up a budget to minimize risks, provided for an increase in GDP in 2015 by 2%. The indicator of industrial production was to grow by 1.9% at best and 0.7% at worst. The budget deficit is not particularly different in two alternative options for the development of Ukraine and is 3.7 billion (indicator of the adopted budget) and 3.5 billion hryvnia, respectively. The budget of Ukraine provided for the state debt not in an optimistic format, in the amount of 100 billion hryvnia, but in a pessimistic one - 112.87 billion hryvnia. There are changes in the tax legislation, in particular, the reduction of the unified state and the reduction of the total number of taxes from 22 to 9.

The first amendments made to the budget, or timely wages to miners

The budget of Ukraine for 2015, according to the press service of the head of state, was changed on April 14, after the signing of the relevant bill. Changes, in the long run, should completely solve the issue of timely payment of salaries to miners. It is planned to restore the level of expenses of the Ministry of Energy in accordance with the budget program (in the amount of 400 million hryvnia) due to redistribution. This should improve the financial and economic situation of state-owned coal mining enterprises. In early spring, the Verkhovna Rada voted for the law, according to which the managers of the state budget are obliged to publish reports on the implementation of the program in an open data format.

New taxes

The new budget of Ukraine 2015 in figures brought many surprises to the inhabitants of the country. Since the beginning of the year, owners of their own homes will pay a tax for square meters that exceed the established standard. For apartments it is over 60 square meters, and for houses - over 120 square meters. In the account will be taken not only living space, but also storage rooms with parking spaces. Residents of suburbs will pay sheds, outbuildings and economic objects at a rate of 24 hryvnia per year for every extra square meter. Since the beginning of the year, commercial real estate has been subject to taxation. The owners of transport will now pay the costs of paying an import tax of 5% and an excise duty applicable to freight transport and buses. A large percentage of elite cars will not fall under the new taxation system.

Deposits and not only

In accordance with changes in the legislation, even deposits will be changed, taking into account the budget-2015 (Ukraine). The amount of deductions to the state treasury from the profit on deposits will now not be 15%, but 20%. There is one more document that comes into force on August 1, 2015, which determines a lower level of taxation. Lawyers focus attention on the fact that when a take-off in different laws the population can follow the standard that is more profitable for it. The budget-2015 (Ukraine) envisaged an increase in import rates. For agricultural products - 10%, for industrial products - 5%, which will inevitably lead to higher prices in the market. According to the EU, such changes could lead to the cancellation of the duty-free regime unilaterally for Ukrainian goods, which the EU previously approved a little earlier. Negative reaction to such changes can also be formed by investors. It is worth adding about the cancellation of a number of benefits, in particular, free travel in public transport to war participants, the right to free travel to health resorts twice a year for a certain group of people, an increase in the fee for meals in preschool institutions, and free textbooks are canceled. Scholarships and meals in the vocational school are provided only to beneficiaries. The part of social payments on care of the child is canceled.