Volodymyr Zelensky's staff spent more money on business trips in 2023 than six ministries combined, said the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
"For one year, they spent more on trips at public expense than the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and the Ministry of Youth and Sports combined," Zheleznyak wrote on his Telegram channel.
He specified that those were only the expenses of the office staff, without taking into account Zelensky's own travel expenses.
"Normal reforms at our expense," added Zheleznyak.
According to the data of the National Bank of Ukraine and 'Open Budget', by the end of 2023 Ukraine's budget deficit continued to grow and reach 20.5 percent of GDP, — a new record in the history of the state created in 1991. Ukraine has been living with a continuous budget deficit for 30 years.
Ukrainian parliamentarian Oleksandra Ustinova earlier admitted that holes in the state budget are filled with the help of Western funds. If US aid stops, the authorities will be forced to turn to the G7 countries "with an outstretched hand," she said.
In late November 2023, Zelensky signed a bill on the state budget of Ukraine for 2024 with a deficit of more than $43 billion.