Almost UAH 6 billion of the Remaining Educational Subventions may be sent to Support Communities during the War

On March 26, the Government adopted a resolution amending the procedures and conditions for the provision of educational subsidies and subsidies to support people with special educational needs. The decision was made to prevent financial irregularities and to support communities in Ukraine during the war. According to the State Treasury Service of Ukraine, as of 01.01.2022 on the accounts of local budgets, there were accumulated UAH 5.6 billion of unused funds of educational subventions (UAH +334.7 million to 01.01.2021), and subventions to provide state support for people with educational needs - UAH 204 million. At the same time, as of 01.02.2022, the balance of the educational subvention already amounted to UAH 7 billion, and the subvention for the provision of state support for people with special educational needs - UAH 213 million. "Our priority is to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine in the period of a full-scale invasion by Russia. That is why almost UAH 6 billion funds of educational subsidies accumulated in the accounts of local budgets as of January 1, 2022, can be used to protect territorial defense, meet food needs, evacuate people from dangerous territories to safe places, and equip them. And most important is our victory over the aggressor", Deputy Minister of Finance Roman Yermolychev commented. Also at the expense of the mentioned educational subventions, it is possible to pay for other measures aimed to support the civilian population under martial law. In addition, the Ministry of Finance carried out analytical work in peacetime to identify the reasons for the annual accumulation of funds for educational subventions. The funds should not permanently stored in the accounts of local budgets but are to be used to develop education, improve its accessibility and quality. Thus, it has been established that part of the funds accumulated in local budgets at the beginning of the year is the funds generated by the Government at the end of 2021 to purchase school buses, in particular, those equipped with seats for children with special educational needs, and creating appropriate sanitary and hygienic conditions in the premises of institutions of general secondary education The volume of funds is about 80% of the total amount, about UAH 4.6 billion. According to the results of the analysis of the use of subsidy funds for private institutions of general secondary education, in 2021, 236 private schools, or 67% of the total number of schools (325 schools) were the recipients of educational subsidies. Cash expenditures amounted to UAH 325.2 million or 60.5% of the estimated amount of subvention (UAH 535.5 million). The lowest rates for private institutions of general secondary education were in the Kharkiv region - 14 out of 26 schools, in the Odesa region - 20 out of 43 schools, in Kyiv - 62 out of 127 schools, in the Rivne region - 1 out of 3 schools, as the relevant private schools did not apply for the funds of the subvention. According to the State Treasury Service, in 2021 communities used the balance of educational subsidy funds in the amount of UAH 4.7 billion.