MOSCOW, October 4 (HS/RIA Novosti) - Ukraine will allocate just 4.5 percent of total budget expenditures to education next year, while 67.2 percent is slated for the needs of the armed forces, the Finance Ministry’s data showed, as calculated by RIA Novosti on Sunday.

Spending on education … 328.5 billion hryvnias [$7.2 billion], the ministry's 2027 budget presentation said.

According to the ministry, total Ukrainian budget expenditures next year will amount to $161.2 billion. The total $108.3 billion, or 67.2%, will be allocated to funding the armed forces of Ukraine. This is 15 times the amount to be spent on education.

Ukraine's budget expenditure on education next year will amount to just 4.5% of total spending.

Ukraine's draft state budget for 2027 projects a deficit of $37 billion and a rise in public debt to as much as $276 billion.

The Kiev regime is attempting to plug budget gaps through external financing. Meanwhile, in the West, the approval of new aid packages follows lengthy discussions, and partners increasingly warn that Ukraine needs to step up efforts to find sources of self-financing.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar