EU, IMF understand need to help Ukraine finance budget gap, Zelenskiy says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said ​on Friday that the European Union and ‌the International Monetary ​Fund understood the importance of helping Kyiv finance its budget deficit and defence spending.

Ukraine is seeking an additional $27 billion from partners this year for defence, ‌saying the cost of the war has risen as Ukraine and Russia intensify long-range drone and missile attacks on each other's military and economic assets, while continuing to fight along a 1,200-km (745-mile) front line. Kyiv has asked to bring ‌forward part of a loan from the European Union.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed to order drones in October ‌and November or it would face challenges at the start of next year. "Everyone understands that Ukraine cannot be alone, and that more investment is needed in Ukrainian-made drones and missiles," he told reporters in a WhatsApp briefing, adding that he had received a positive ⁠response from ​European Commission President Ursula von ⁠der Leyen.

Aside from defence, Ukraine also relies on foreign help to finance its social and humanitarian spending. It expects to need more than $52 ⁠billion in international financial aid next year. Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko told reporters that an IMF mission for a second ​review of Ukraine's financing programme was expected in November and that Kyiv needed to have a plan ⁠in place by then for how to fund next year's budget.

One of Ukraine's largest companies, the Fozzy Group, said in a post on ⁠Facebook ​that damage caused by Russian attacks was obliging it to lay off staff at its network of shops and in its offices. It gave no specific figures, but said it was still hiring staff to ⁠work in facilities restored after attacks. "From August 1 to September 25 alone, the Russians destroyed and damaged more ⁠than 20 of our ⁠facilities — distribution centers, supermarkets, and production capacities," it said.

"We lost part of our infrastructure and inventory and keeping things running smoothly has become much harder and more expensive."