Undeterred by its empty state coffers and looming bankruptcy, Kiev is all set to almost quadruple the amount of money it spends on new weapons.
In 2015 the defense ministry plans to spend 14 billion hryvnias (around $600 million), which amounts to almost a third of the country’s defense budget, the ministry’s press secretary Victoria Kushnir announced on Tuesday.
Kushnir explained the big spending spike from 3.9 billion hryvnias allocated last year by the situation in the country’s east and the need to upgrade the army’s largely outdated arsenal.
Deutsche Welle reminded that Ukraine depends much on foreign loans, including from the IMF, adding that many critics believe that Kiev splurges on defense and holds back on much-needed structural reforms.
