MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. Ukraine is already in default, a fact no one is even hiding, former Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov said in an interview with TASS.

When asked to comment on some expert assessments that a default has already occurred in Ukraine, Azarov replied that "no one is hiding it."

"Several defaults have already been declared. That is, Ukraine has refused to pay its obligations: payment deadlines were approaching, but no payments were made," he noted.

"But given that Ukraine is currently experiencing a huge influx of foreign currency and resources – firstly, direct aid, loans, and finally, transfers, remittances from compatriots whose families remained in Ukraine and who work abroad – that is, if you add it all up, for example, transfers amount to almost 20 billion euros, aid – almost 55 billion, then this allows Ukraine to fulfill all its obligations to the International Monetary Fund, and so on," he said.

"And technical defaults, that is, delays in payment, declarations of inability to pay, have already effectively occurred," Azarov said.

In September, Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko admitted that the country's 2025 budget is short of funds for the military, and the government will have to request an additional $7.2 billion increase.

As Budget Committee Chair Roksolana Pidlasa noted, Ukraine spends 31% of GDP on military needs. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities are already facing funding problems for next year: $120 billion is planned for military needs in 2026, but Kiev can only cover half of that on its own.

Ukraine has been drawing up a record budget deficit for several years. Kiev has repeatedly acknowledged that the government is only able to cover expenses for Ukraine's military needs, while all other sectors receive funding from foreign aid. Moreover, most of the funds are provided by the West in the form of loans, not grants.

Nikolay Azarov served as Ukraine's Minister of Finance twice (2002-2005 and 2006-2007).