KYIV. March 18 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada has made 6.882 billion hryvni available to the reserve fund to finance partial mobilization and efforts to enhance the country's defense capability by cutting spending on other items.
The relevant amendments to the 2014 state budget were upheld by 243 deputies.
Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said almost half of the amount will be spent on purchasing and repairing weapons.
Also, this money will be used to finance the mobilization of about 20,000 men for Defense Ministry formations, another 20,000 in the National Guard and 3,900 in the Border Service.
The Cabinet of Minister's spending has been cut by 2.131 billion hryvni, including cuts in the State Fund for Regional Development by 1.051 billon hryvni, in the spending distributed by the government by 1 billion hryvni and in the stock capital for acquiring housing for civil servants by 80 million hryvni.
Spending on the regional development, construction and housing utility ministries has been cut by 1.12 billion hryvni.
The reserve fund for defense will be formed from the Education and Science Ministry's subsidies intended for local budgets to finance meals for schoolchildren in 2014.
The Social Policy Ministry's spending has been cut by 600 million hryvni, including 300 million hryvni earlier allotted to housing programs for disabled war veterans, Afghan war veterans and veterans of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and another 300 million hryvni from allocations to benefits for mothers of many children.
The reserve fund for defense will get 537.778 million hryvni in subsidies allotted to the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry, including 201.778 million earlier intended to support agriculture and related industries, and 200 million hryvni intended to form wholesale agricultural produce markets.
The Interior Ministry's spending under the program for the formation of a single demographic state register has been cut by 400 million hryvni.
The state spending of the National Agency for preparations for and holding of the 2012 Euro Football Cup and for infrastructure projects under preparations for the 2015 European basketball championship, have been cut by 401.170 million hryvni.
Minister Ostap Severak said on March 16 that in order to form a reserve fund the government proposes cutting funding for 30 budget programs which, in the Finance Ministry's opinion, have no first-priority status.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk earlier told the government that the cabinet would form a 6.8 billion hryvni reserve fund for defense. The hryvnia is tied to the dollar today 9.6007/$1.