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Danish companies already have investment plans for Ukraine despite the war. Denmark's Ambassador to Ukraine, Ole Egberg Mikkelsen, said: "Denmark is already moving from grants to investments. We understand the risk but cannot wait until the war ends. Foreign investment in Ukraine is an essential component of reconstruction, and Denmark is making serious efforts to promote business in Ukraine." In particular, the Danish Support Fund for Ukraine launched this year and can issue loans and investment guarantees to some Danish and Ukrainian businesses. "Regarding many specific projects, the details cannot be disclosed for security reasons. But I can tell you that the contracts have been signed," the ambassador added. He clarified that many Danish corporations were already operating in Ukraine and managed to maintain and expand their activities during the war. For example, this year, DTEK launched a new wind power plant, Tiligulska, in the Mykolaiv region with Danish wind turbines, and Carlsberg invested €40M, increasing production by 80%.
6.0 Public Sector 6.1 Budget
The Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, passed the 2024 budget in the second of three readings with minimal changes on November 9, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
The draft budget law received overwhelming support from 276 Members of Parliament. Roksolana Pidlasa, the Head of the Parliamentary Committee for Economic Development, said the draft budget had minimal changes during the second reading.
The biggest alteration was an increase of UAH22.2bn ($606.2mn) in the revenue plan from an increase in VAT on imported goods, as well as increased income from bank taxes, import duties, and rent.
The biggest allocation in the 2024 budget remains defence, accounting for 22.1% of total expenditures, equating to UAH1.69 trillion ($46.5bn) earmarked for the security and defence forces.
Additionally, the budget allocates funds for the development of the defence industry, including UAH43bn ($1.18bn) for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and UAH43bn for the production of ammunition and weapons.
Pidlasa said that funds for the national security and defence sector are exclusively sourced from domestic revenues, including taxes, customs duties, state-owned company dividends, privatization proceeds, and the issuance of the Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance federal treasuring bonds (OVDPs).
· A substantial portion of expenditures will be deficit spending to the tune of UAH1.57 trillion ($43.2bn) that should be covered international aid and external borrowings worth UAH1.67 trillion ($46bn), as well as domestic government bond placements amounting to UAH525.9bn ($14.4bn), and privatisation proceeds, estimated at UAH4bn ($110mn).
63 UKRAINE Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com