Supplementary budget strengthens defence capability
Published : 21 May 2022, 05:30
The government's second supplementary budget for 2022 will direct a total of about EUR 669.4 million in additional funding to the administrative branch of the Ministry of Defence due to changes in the operating environment, said the Ministry of Defence in a press release on Friday.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has brought about fundamental changes in Finland's security environment and will require immediate actions to strengthen the defence capability.
The additional funding will be allocated for defence materiel procurement, personnel costs, reservist training arrangements and government grants aimed at voluntary national defence. The funding will ensure the level of the activities in and preparedness of the Defence Forces.
Out of the ammount, EUR 176 million will be allocated for the Defence Forces' operating expenditure and EUR 490 million for newly launched defence materiel procurements.
For longer-term materiel procurements, a procurement authorisation of approximately EUR 1.7 billion is proposed for acquisitions to improve defence capability in the timeframe from 2022 to 2027.
The funding will be used to purchase anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, combatant gear, artillery ammunition, field maintenance materiel, and anti-ship missiles and air defence missiles, among other things.
Discretionary government grants for voluntary national defence will be increased by close to EUR 3.2 million this year.
In addition, the supplementary budget includes changes affecting VAT expenditure, payments of ongoing procurements and exchange rate expenditure as well as other technical allocations of appropriations.
The funding profile of multi-role fighters will be postponed so that the annual contribution of EUR 1.5 billion reserved for 2022 will be deferred to the coming years.