Odesa City Council Increases Defense Budget by 211 Million UAH

The deputies supported changes to the city program "Safe City of Odesa", which provides for an additional increase in funds for the needs of the military.

This was discussed at a session of the Odesa City Council on February 5.

According to Andriy Zarytskyi, head of the Finance Department, last year, UAH 1.4 billion was allocated for defense needs, which was distributed among five main programs, including Safe City Odesa and Support for the TrO Forces. This year, 126 million hryvnias were planned for defense, but after an additional vote by the deputies, the defense budget increased by 211 million, which makes a total of 337 million to support the city's defense capability.

At the same time, Zarytskyi noted that last year there were more expenditures to support territorial defense through the purchase of equipment, but there are currently no new requests in this area. The unused funds left over from last year (about UAH 840 million) will be used for other community needs.

City council members also appealed to the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleh Kiper, to exclude the region from the waste management program.

In addition, Oleh Filimonov, a city council member from the Servant of the People faction and a well-known comedian, resigned his mandate early. This decision was supported by his colleagues at the session.

The deputies also adopted a methodology for calculating the rent for communal property of the territorial community of Odesa.

According to deputy Oleksandr Slavskyi, this decision will unblock the process of leasing municipal property for organizations that have the right to enter into contracts without holding an auction. These include government agencies, charitable and public organizations, rehabilitation centers, etc.

Ірина Глухова