Zelenskyy was shocked by the budget deficit and called the deputies shouting

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was “shocked” by the scale of the budget deficit after a report from Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi. Against the backdrop of funding problems, the head of state personally called people’s deputies, urging them to support the laws necessary to receive international aid.

This is reported in a Ukrainska Pravda article dated September 3, citing sources familiar with the situation.

On September 1, the Verkhovna Rada opened its 16th session. At the start of the session, lawmakers considered draft laws linked to various international support programs.

According to UP, this highlighted one of the country’s key problems — a significant state budget deficit.

After his appointment, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi began a detailed review of the state’s financial situation and the needs the government must meet. During meetings with officials, he presented tables and charts on the budget situation.

Before the National Security and Defence Council meeting in mid-August, Koretskyi prepared a presentation for the president showing the gap between available resources and expenditures Ukraine must finance by the end of the year. According to UP, the gap amounted to tens of billions of dollars.

Sources told the outlet that after Koretskyi’s briefing, Zelenskyy was so shocked by the scale of the problem that he called deputies responsible for voting on laws related to European integration and IMF programs directly from the meeting.

“With shouting and pressure,” the UP sources described his behavior.

However, even under pressure from the leadership, parliament failed to secure the necessary votes for several important draft laws. According to the outlet, the relevant decisions did not receive more than 190 votes.

The authors of the article see the situation as indicative of the new political season. The Presidential Office, the Verkhovna Rada, and the Cabinet of Ministers entered it with their own problems.

Koretskyi himself, according to UP sources, tried to persuade deputies to support Euro-integration and other draft laws tied to international financing. Some were put to a vote on September 1, but parliament rejected almost all of them.

As a result, Ukraine risks losing “quick” $4–5 billion in international financing, UP writes.

At the same time, the prime minister continues to insist on fulfilling international obligations. According to the outlet, a significant portion of the state budget is financed by international partners and donors, so support for the relevant draft laws is directly linked to the ability to meet the state’s financial needs.