KHARKIV. July 10 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government is planning to draft and present to the president the possible options how to allocate 300 million hryvni to additional payments to the military without calling off the parade on Independence Day in a week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said.
"I suggested to the president that we will prepare the options how to simultaneously conduct additional payments and held the parade with as optimal expenditures as possible. [...] I believe we will prepare our suggestions in a week," Groysman told journalists in Kharkiv on Wednesday.
The final decision is up to the president, he said. "We will offer this to the president. The president as the commander-in-chief will make the decision, but I believe this matter is important for the society. It's not for officials or someone else. It's for Ukrainians, for Ukrainian troops, for the Ukrainian society, for the Ukrainian state. This is why I would like the parade to take place," Groysman said.
On June 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested in his video address that the military parade on Independence Day should not be held, but 300 million hryvni should be allocated for extra payments to Ukrainian troops.