MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. Ukraine has received more than $23 billion from Western countries since the beginning of the year to cover the state budget deficit, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said on Sunday.

"We are grateful to our international partners who have allocated more than $23 billion since the beginning of the year to finance the budget deficit," he wrote on his Facebook account (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).

According to the statistics cited by the prime minister, the budget spending exceeded revenue by approximately $13 billion in the first six months of this year. According to Shmygal, the defense sector accounts for the bulk of expenditures.

Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said earlier that the country will cease to exist as a state without Western loans.

Ukraine’s 2023 budget provides for a record-breaking deficit of $38 billion and President Vladimir Zelensky has suggested that the West cover it completely. Head of the Verkhovna Rada’s (Ukrainian parliament) finance committee Daniil Getmantsev admitted that Ukraine could not use the money it had without an agreement with Western countries and any expenditures or changes should not run counter to their vision. Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko called for being cautious about Western loans, since they would be a burden for future generations.