The lack of funding for healthcare sector has resulted not only from poor budget performance but also from wrong priorities set by the government. This was stated by OPPOSITION PLATFORM – FOR LIFE MP Serhiy Lovochkin commenting on the budget-2020 performance.

“They are speaking a lot about the state budget’s gap worth 100 billion hryvnia which, as the administration says, had been caused by the lack of IMF funds and economic decline due to the epidemic. But another big problem is that the government fails to allocate available funds correctly. Therefore, in 10 months of 2020, the healthcare sector had been underfunded by almost 26 billion hryvnia, which is over one quarter of its total expenses,” the politician said.

Lovochkin reminded that the Cabinet of Ministers has recently decided to redirect a part of anti-COVID funds for support of “creative industries” and other expenses, which stirred public criticism.

“The resentment is quite justified, for this situation shows that the government fails to set correct priorities for fund allocation amid the budget gap. Obviously, in current conditions two expenditure items must be prioritized, and these are healthcare and programs that underpin economic growth. In the meantime, these two sectors are significantly underfunded, for the total of over 43 billion hryvnia,” the MP said.

He believes that given the Cabinet’s lack of professionalism, the situation must be resolved at the level of the parliament.

“Verkovna Rada must make a decision that will prioritize allocation of funds both during the remaining weeks of 2020 and in the state budget for 2021. Ukraine cannot afford secondary expenses in a situation when healthcare sector and programs that support GDP growth remain underfunded,” Lovochkin said.