The regional budget revenues in the Luhansk region have reduced about tenfold compared to the pre-war period.
The relevant statement was made by Luhansk Regional Military Administration Head Artem Lysohor in a commentary to Ukrinform.
“For example, the regional budget’s own revenues are expected to be about tenfold lower this year compared to the pre-war year 2021, i.e. UAH 83 million against UAH 700 million generated in 2021,” Lysohor said.
The reason is that, in accordance with tax and budget regulations, having moved from one region to another, taxpayers begin to transfer payments to the budgets of the territories where they had relocated to.
As explained by Lysohor, having relocated from the Luhansk region to the Lviv region, for example, the enterprise now will pay taxes to local budgets in the Lviv region.
In his words, the Luhansk region’s local budgets are the lowest across Ukraine.
As a guarantor of the provision of mandatory social services, the state does partly compensate for such losses through the horizontal equalization of local budgets. But, a decline in the own revenue base significantly lowers the own capabilities of local budgets.
“However, I have no doubt that they will be directed, same as last year, primarily towards education, healthcare, and financing the country’s Security and Defense Forces, as well as providing assistance to internally displaced persons in various forms,” Lysohor stressed.
A reminder that, as of late December 2024, 95% of local budgets across Ukraine were approved.
Photo: Luhansk Regional Military Administration
Source: Regional military chief comments on decline in budget revenues in Luhansk region
