2024-08-21 03:00:30
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that a balance is needed between mobilization for the army and maintaining the war-torn economy, Reuters and BTA reported.
Responding to a question from a worker during his visit to an industrial plant in Kropyvnytskyi, central Ukraine, Zelensky said filling the jobs was vital to paying soldiers’ salaries and Ukraine’s defense efforts.
“Everyone is interested in the factories being fully staffed. This is important to us. We cannot afford to lose our army and its reserves, but we also need to have workers for our enterprises. We have to find the balance,” he said.
The war with Russia, now in its 30th month, is draining Ukraine’s labor resources, with more than 70 percent of businesses saying labor shortages are among their main challenges.
After the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, millions of people fled the fighting and settled in Europe, while tens of thousands of Ukrainian men were mobilized into the armed forces.
The Ukrainian government has recently tightened mobilization rules as it has to rotate tired and exhausted soldiers.
However, Ukraine must maintain its economy to ensure that it has sufficient government revenue to finance its defense efforts.
In Ukraine’s budget for 2024, nearly $40 billion is planned to be spent on defense, which makes up about half of total spending. Defense expenditure is covered by taxes and other government revenues.
The Ukrainian government relies on financial support from its Western allies to finance social and humanitarian spending, according to Reuters.