Improvement or safety: how Podilskyi district communities allocated budgets for territorial community centers

In the Podil district, communities spent millions annually on landscaping, while much less money was spent on territorial defense. It turned out that local authorities prioritized comfort over public safety.

The Centerfor Public Investigations analyzed how the communities of Podil district financed territorial defense measures in 2022-2025 and compared these expenditures with the costs of landscaping.

There are 12 councils in the district, and their budgets demonstrate different approaches to priorities.

The Kuyalnytsia community annually spent between UAH 1.2 and 3.2 million on maintenance and repair, while spending UAH 3.7-9.8 million on landscaping. In Kodyma City Council, defense expenditures were insignificant - 0.3-0.6 million per year, while 8.4-13.4 million was spent on improvements. Podilska community allocated from 1.9 to 16.4 million for the TRO, and from 27.4 to 41.1 million for the improvement of the community. The Savranska community spent from 50 thousand to 630 thousand on maintenance and repair, and 4.6-10.9 million on landscaping.

Some communities have funded TROs only once. For example, in 2022, the Balta community spent 227.4 thousand on defense, and the Zelenohirsk community spent 142.2 thousand, but these communities consistently spent 3 to 6 million annually on landscaping.

Other communities spent on TROs irregularly. The Liubashiv community spent UAH 445.6 thousand in 2022 and 265.1 thousand in 2023, and did not provide for any funds for the TRO in the following years. The Oknyanska community allocated from 646 thousand to 10.1 million for defense, skipping 2022. Ananivska spent from 178 thousand to 10.5 million on the TRO, Dolynska - 250-315 thousand, Pishchanska - 434 thousand to 2.6 million. At the same time, the costs of landscaping in these communities remained significant.

The Sloboda settlement community did not spend a single hryvnia on territorial defense at all, but annually allocated funds for landscaping, a total of 8.2 million against a budget of 183.7 million.

In total, the communities of Podil district spent 70.2 million on territorial defense and 503.5 million on landscaping. The study shows that financial resources were available, but local authorities prioritized landscaping over preparing the population for national resistance.

In addition, in 2022-2025, the communities of Odesa district spent a total of UAH 767.2 million to support territorial defense and UAH 5.5 billion on landscaping and maintenance.

Анна Бальчінос