KIEV, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Tuesday he has signed the law to amend the country's state budget for this year, which envisages boosting the defence spending by around 100 million U.S. dollars.
"Providing the Ukrainian Army with several extremely important types of armament, including Oplot tanks, is the first priority of defense sector financing," Poroshenko wrote on Facebook.
According to him, the extra funding will also go to the construction of an ammunition manufacturing plant and the implementation of social programs for the army servicemen.
Last month, the Ukrainian parliament adopted the law to boost the overall budget expenditures this year by three percent to 32 billion U.S. dollars due to higher-than-expected revenues in the first half of the year.
Apart from the defense sector, the additional funding will be directed for programs on ensuring public order and resolving social-economic issues.
Ukraine's total spending on defense this year is expected to reach 5.1 billion U.S. dollars or about five percent of the country's gross domestic product.
