The official budget of Ukraine for 2015 was adopted on December 29, 2014. 233 deputies voted for the resolution. The decision was not easy. There have been repeated attempts to postpone the decision to 2015. Nevertheless, the financial potential of the development of Ukraine was determined by the government.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk on the budget for 2015
Arseniy Yatsenyuk publicly stated that it was very problematic to call the adopted budget ideal. According to him, this year 80 billion hryvnias have been allocated for defense, and given all the additional items of expenditure, the amount will be equal to 90 billion hryvnias. Information was publicly presented that starting from January 7, the government would start working with creditors, with parallel reporting on the situation. According to the Prime Minister, who submitted this bill for consideration, amendments to it should have been introduced already on February 15. This should have been accompanied by negotiations with representatives of the IMF and people from other international organizations.
What is the document based on?
The budget of Ukraine, which is an important state document, was formed on the basis of a pessimistic forecast. The explanatory note focuses on the fact that the forecast taken for the basic development of the state in 2015 is an order of magnitude worse than the situation described by the IMF. The approach provided minimization of risks. The state budget of Ukraine was based on a drop in GDP of 4.3% with inflation of at least 13.1%. All calculations were carried out at a dollar exchange 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.
The budget of Ukraine in numbers
Income of Ukraine in accordance with plans should correspond to 475.2 billion hryvnias. Costs - no more than 527.1 billion hryvnias. The maximum allowable deficit should not exceed 63.6 billion hryvnias, or 3.7% of GDP. According to preliminary forecasts, the volume of borrowings in 2015 should not exceed 279.68 billion hryvnias, which is 23.16 billion more than the 2014 figure. The volume of external borrowing will increase to 166.81 billion hryvnia, which is 82.66 billion hryvnia more than last year. Domestic debt will remain at 112.87 billion hryvnia, which is 59.7 billion less 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 fundamental reforms. In accordance with the pessimistic scenario, this year it is planned to reduce wages by 4.4%, which will amount to an average of 3, 880 hryvnias. Foreign trade will be reduced by 8.9% in exports and 12.8% in imports. The cost of living will be increased only once. From December 1, 2015, it will be 1, 300 hryvnias. At the moment, the indicator corresponds to 1, 176 hryvnias. The minimum wage, which today is 1, 176 hryvnias, will be increased to 1, 378 hryvnias by the end of the year. The minimum pension is planned to be increased by only 32 hryvnias, to the level of 981 hryvnias. In the future, it is planned to carry out the restoration of Donbass, for which the government has provided 300 million hryvnias. This is the construction of new facilities, and overhaul, and a comprehensive reconstruction of the infrastructure.
Two alternative scenarios
The budget of Ukraine for 2015 was based on a pessimistic scenario. The positive option, which provides for a slight improvement in the economy of the state, requires radical changes not only in the field of legislation, but also in the tax code. The optimistic scenario, which it was decided not to take into account when drawing up the budget to minimize risks, provided for a 2% increase in GDP in 2015. The industrial production indicator was to grow by 1.9% at best and by 0.7% at worst. The budget deficit is not particularly different in the two alternative options for the development of Ukraine and amounts to 3.7 billion (an indicator of the adopted budget) and 3.5 billion hryvnia, respectively. The budget of Ukraine provided for public debt not in an optimistic format, in the amount of 100 billion hryvnias, but in a pessimistic one - 112.87 billion hryvnias. Changes in tax legislation are foreseen, in particular, a reduction in the unified state tax and a decrease in the total number of taxes from 22 to 9.
First budget amendments 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 signing the corresponding bill. The changes, in the long run, should completely solve the issue of timely payment of wages to miners. It is planned to restore the level of expenses of the Ministry of Energy and Coal in accordance with the budget program (in the amount of 400 million hryvnias) due to redistribution. This should improve the financial and economic situation of state-owned enterprises in the coal mining industry. In early spring, the Verkhovna Rada advocated the law, according to which the managers of the state budget are obliged to publish reports on the implementation of the program in open data format.
New taxes
The new budget of Ukraine 2015 in numbers brought the inhabitants of the country many surprises. From the beginning of the year, homeowners will pay tax for square meters that go beyond the established norm. For apartments this is over 60 square meters, and for houses - over 120 square meters. Not only living space, but also storage rooms with parking lots will be taken into account. Residents of the suburbs will pay for sheds, outbuildings and household facilities at a rate of 24 hryvnia per year for each extra square meter. Since the beginning of the year, commercial property has been taxed. Owners of transport will now bear the costs of paying import tax in the amount of 5% and the excise tax applicable to freight transport and buses. A large percentage of luxury cars will not fall under the new tax system.
