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Yesterday and today have been a very active time for our political decision-making. Yesterday, I held meetings with Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov, and Minister of Finance Serhii Marchenko. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi and Chief of the General Staff Hnatov have confirmed it. A course of action has been approved – to increase the financial sustainability of our defense and ensure the continued transformation of the Ukrainian Army. I am grateful to the members of parliament who adopted the budget changes to strengthen our defense. I am grateful to our partners who are helping us. First - pay. We have the resources to increase pay in the military. The minimum will be 30,000 hryvnias in rear areas. The more combat missions, the higher the level of pay. There will be new, significantly stronger contracts for infantry personnel. On average, 300,000 hryvnias on the front line. Everything depends on Ukrainian infantry, on our Ukrainian infantryman. The contracts will be structured to ensure clarity: contract terms of 10, 14, and 24 months with clear conditions – meaning clear temporary discharge. Guaranteed terms – and real temporary discharge. In addition, payments for Ukrainian combat commanders will be increased, and this should create a positive incentive to preserve command experience within the Army. The Cabinet of Ministers will approve the specific mechanism, and the first new payments are expected to begin in June. Second, I am grateful to all the volunteers from other countries who are fighting for our freedom in Ukraine, understanding that this concerns the freedom of many other nations as well. I have instructed that significantly more opportunities be opened for foreign volunteers to join the Ukrainian Army. There will be additional recruitment mechanisms to support this. Third, further simplification of transfers for soldiers, more opportunities to advance within the Army, and more positive incentives to join the defense. I expect every element of the changes now being implemented to show its effectiveness this summer. The Ministry of Defense will present the details of the decisions.
Notes
Yesterday and today have been a very active time for our political decision-making. Yesterday, I held meetings with Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov, and Minister of Finance Serhii Marchenko. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi and Chief of the General Staff Hnatov have confirmed it. A course of action has been approved – to increase the financial sustainability of our defense and ensure the continued transformation of the Ukrainian Army. I am grateful to the members of parliament who adopted the budget changes to strengthen our defense. I am grateful to our partners who are helping us. First – pay. We have the resources to increase pay in the military. The minimum will be 30,000 hryvnias in rear areas. The more combat missions, the higher the level of pay. There will be new, significantly stronger contracts for infantry personnel. On average, 300,000 hryvnias on the front line. Everything depends on Ukrainian infantry, on our Ukrainian infantryman. The contracts will be structured to ensure clarity: contract terms of 10, 14, and 24 months with clear conditions – meaning clear temporary discharge. Guaranteed terms – and real temporary discharge. In addition, payments for Ukrainian combat commanders will be increased, and this should create a positive incentive to preserve command experience within the Army. The Cabinet of Ministers will approve the specific mechanism, and the first new payments are expected to begin in June. Second, I am grateful to all the volunteers from other countries who are fighting for our freedom in Ukraine, understanding that this concerns the freedom of many other nations as well. I have instructed that significantly more opportunities be opened for foreign volunteers to join the Ukrainian Army. There will be additional recruitment mechanisms to support this. Third, further simplification of transfers for warriors, more opportunities to advance within the Army, and more positive incentives to join the defense. I expect every element of the changes now being implemented to show its effectiveness this summer. The Ministry of Defense will present the details of the decisions.