Additional subsidies for Odesa region allocated 928 million

Preparations for the state budget for 2026 are entering the final stage, and changes in the main financial document will affect local budgets in the Odesa region. The key innovations include changes in grants, subventions and distribution of personal income tax, as well as new expenditures for tariff compensation and support for the territories where military operations are ongoing.

The Center for Public Investigations analyzed how the changes in the country's main financial document will affect local budgets in Odesa Oblast and what nuances it contains.

The most noticeable change was a significant adjustment to the amount of the basic subsidy. The first version of the draft budget envisaged UAH 1.8 billion for 79 local budgets in the region. In the second reading, this amount was reduced to UAH 1.4 billion, and the number of budgets was reduced to 78.

At the same time, the reverse subsidy - the funds that local budgets give to the state - was reduced. If initially it amounted to 1.1 billion hryvnias, in the finalized draft it is only 384.4 million.

The additional subsidy for the exercise of powers of local governments in the de-occupied, temporarily occupied, and war-affected territories has also been reduced. Initially, UAH 1.3 billion was planned for 2026 for 64 budgets, and by the second reading, UAH 437.8 million remained for 50 budgets.

At the same time, the draft law introduced a new subsidy to ensure the functioning of the territories where hostilities are ongoing - it applies to 59 regional budgets.

As a result, the total amount of subsidies for Odesa region increased by UAH 928.3 million between the first and second readings.

The situation with subventions is a bit more complicated. Some of the subventions in the budget are specified in general amounts without a specific distribution among communities - the exact amounts will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers, and the funds will come through the regional budget. Therefore, it is not yet known how much each community in Odesa Oblast will receive.

For example, the total amount of the educational subvention for 2025 and 2026 is the same - UAH 103.1 billion. At the same time, the draft budget for 2026 does not provide for a subvention for additional payments to teachers of general secondary education institutions, which in 2025 amounted to almost 12 billion. Discussions on raising salaries are ongoing, so these figures may still change.

In addition, the subvention for certain expenditures of district councils was removed from the original draft - previously, UAH 1.4 million for each of the seven councils in the region.

At the same time, the subvention for school meals is growing significantly: in 2025, UAH 4.6 billion was allocated for this purpose, and in the draft budget for 2026 - UAH 14.3 billion (for the whole country; the government will determine the share of Odesa region).

Subventions to support healthcare institutions and public investment projects in this area are also increasing: from almost UAH 3 billion in 2025 to almost UAH 5.2 billion in 2026 (again, the total amount for Ukraine).

The draft budget for 2026 introduces a completely new subvention to compensate for the difference in tariffs for heat, hot water, and district heating during the year - UAH 15.2 billion for the whole country. Previously, there were no such expenditures.

Instead, the temporary transfer of an additional 4% of personal income tax to community budgets is canceled. This practice has been in place since 2022 to ensure a stable heating season and energy payments. The draft budget for 2026 no longer provides for this 4%, and the government proposes to return to the basic PIT distribution: 25% to the state budget, 15% to regional budgets, and 60% to community budgets.

Local governments have been actively advocating for the extension of the 4% PIT, appealing to the government, associations, and MPs. Some MPs have submitted amendments to the draft budget for 2026, but the government is against their adoption.

As before, unused community subventions will have to be returned to the state budget after the end of the budget period.

Currently, there is an active bargaining process between local governments, which insists on maintaining the additional 4% of PIT, and the government, which proposes a basic model of revenue distribution. The draft state budget for 2026 has been prepared for the second reading without this 4%.

The issue of raising teachers' salaries remains open. Therefore, all the above figures are preliminary and the final amounts will be determined based on the results of agreements between the government and the parliament.

The CPR experts also analyzed how the legislation on public disclosure of information on local budgets is being observed based on the first decisions of 2025. Most regional military administrations have not launched their own websites and use the web resources of former district or regional state administrations.

Анна Бальчінос