KYIV. Aug 27 (Interfax) - The financing of Ukraine's security and defense sector in 2019 will total approximately 200 billion hryvni, or at least 5% of the country's gross domestic product, according to government forecasts, National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov said.
Turchynov presided at a meeting attended by First Deputy Premier and Economic Development Minister Stepan Kubiv, Acting Finance Minister Oksana Markarova, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak, Interior Minster Arsen Avakov, and the heads of other security agencies and entities, the NSDC's press service said on Monday.
According to the government, the country's GDP will reach 3.946 billion hryvni, Turchynov said. "So the level of financing of the Ukrainian security and defense sector, which must be no less than 5% of GDP, will be about 200 billion hryvni," he said.
"The defense budget's revenue section must come solely from actual substantiated proceeds," he said.
Priority areas with regard to next year's financing include developing and purchasing advanced high-precision missile weaponry (various missile systems, including cruise missiles), artillery, armored vehicles, precision-guided means of destruction, ammunition, and special chemical products to reinforce the country's air defense and the capacities of the air force, Turchynov said.
It is also planned to finance cyber security and measures aimed at developing and upgrading secure government lines, data protection, development of testing grounds for missiles, ammunition, and more, he said.
"One of the important priority objectives of the defense budget is to finance the social guarantees given to servicemen. Above all, this means increasing the cash payments they are entitled to, which is necessary in terms of maintaining the professional core of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Ukrainian National Guard, and other security institutions," Turchynov said.
Once the defense budget is shaped, it will have to be approved at an NSDC meeting, and if it is approved there, it will be passed on to the government, he said.
The current exchange rate is 27.85 hryvni/$1.