Optimization of Ukraine's Defense Expenditures Considering Asymmetric Threats and Limited Resources
Abstract
Purpose: To develop scientifically grounded recommendations for optimizing Ukraine’s defense expenditures, taking into account the specific nature of asymmetric threats and limited financial and material resources, by identifying priority investment areas, improving the efficiency of budgetary resource allocation, and strengthening national defense capabilities under conditions of hybrid warfare.
Method: The study is based on an integrated methodological approach that includes analysis and synthesis of scientific literature and regulatory legal acts in the field of defense planning; systems and structural-functional analysis; comparative analysis of international experience; methods of economic analysis and generalization of statistical data (SIPRI, IMF, Ministry of Finance of Ukraine); as well as elements of scenario analysis and expert assessment.
Findings: The necessity of shifting from quantitative force buildup to qualitative development oriented toward countering asymmetric threats is substantiated; priority areas for optimizing defense expenditures are identified, including the development of unmanned systems, electronic warfare, cybersecurity, and information security; the impact of international assistance on the structure of Ukraine’s defense budget is analyzed, and approaches to improving the efficiency and transparency of resource utilization are proposed; recommendations for rationalizing the structure of the Armed Forces, logistics systems, and the involvement of the private sector are formulated.
Theoretical implications: The study contributes to the development of defense economics and defense planning theory by clarifying the role of asymmetric threats in shaping defense expenditure priorities and by expanding theoretical understanding of adaptive approaches to defense financing under conditions of hybrid warfare and resource constraints.
Practical implications: The findings and recommendations may be used by public authorities, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and other components of the security and defense sector in the formulation and adjustment of defense budgets, capability development programs, and defense planning processes, as well as in educational and analytical activities in the fields of national and military security.
Paper type: Theoretical.
Downloads
References
Babak, V. (2022). Asymetric threats and their impact on contemporary defense planning. Naukovi zapysky Natsionalnoho universytetu oborony Ukrainy, 12(4), 15–29.
ArmyInform. (2024). Budget 2025: Record expenditures allocated for security and defense. https://armyinform.com.ua/2024/10/31/byudzhet-2025-na-bezpeku-ta-oboronu-peredbacheno-rekordni-vytraty
Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. (2024). The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the draft Law of Ukraine on the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025. https://mof.gov.ua/uk/news/verkhovna_rada_ukraini_priinyala_proekt_zakonu_ukraini_pro_derzhavnii_biudzhet_ukraini_na_2025_rik-4690
Center for Security Studies “SENSS”. (2022). Hybrid warfare: Analysis of modern conflicts and recommendations for Ukraine (Analytical report). Kyiv.
Hnativ, N., & Shevchuk, O. (2024). The role of artificial intelligence in enhancing the effectiveness of defense operations. Tekhnolohii ta innovatsii, 9(3), 56–70.
RBC-Ukraine. (2024). Money for power: How Ukraine’s defense budget changed in 2024. https://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/groshi-silu-zminivsya-oboronniy-byudzhet-1732179600.html
Dyka, O., & Kovpak, A. (2024). Global trends in defense spending growth in the context of the Russian–Ukrainian war. Ekonomika ta bezpeka, 10(1), 23–38.
Center for Security Studies “SENSS”. (2023). Information security and countering disinformation in wartime (Analytical report). Kyiv.
Center for Security Studies “SENSS”. (2023). Cyber threats and protection of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure (Analytical report). Kyiv.
Kravets, O. (2023). Cybersecurity as a component of national defense in conditions of hybrid warfare. Cybersecurity: Education, Science, Technology, 7(1), 78–92.
Lozynskyi, I. (2023). Optimization of logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under limited resources. Logistyka: teoriia ta praktyka, 8(2), 34–49.
Melnyk, S. (2022). Development of the domestic defense-industrial complex: Challenges and prospects. Ekonomika Ukrainy, 65(4), 12–27.
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. (2024). Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025” (No. 4059-IX, November 19, 2024). https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/4059-20#Text
Soloviov, Ye. (2023). Integration of military and civilian security expertise: NATO countries’ experience and lessons for Ukraine. Viiskovo-naukovyi visnyk, 15(2), 45–62.
Center for Security Studies “SENSS”. (2024). Strategies for countering asymmetric threats: International experience (Analytical report). Kyiv.
Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. (2025). The government approved the report on the execution of the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2024”. https://mof.gov.ua/uk/news/uriad_skhvalyv_zvit_pro_vykonannia_zakonu_ukraini_pro_derzhavnyi_biudzhet_ukraini_na_2024_rik-4837
Cordesman, A. H. (2023). Hybrid warfare and the future of conflict. Center for Strategic and International Studies.
European External Action Service. (2025). EU assistance to Ukraine (in U.S. dollars). https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/eu-assistance-ukraine-us-dollars_en
Center for Strategic and International Studies. (2023). Financing Ukraine’s defense: Challenges and opportunities (CSIS Briefs).
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. (2025). In the first half of 2025, the Government of Ukraine secured USD 22 billion in external financing. https://www.kmu.gov.ua/en/news/u-pershomu-pivrichchi-2025-roku-uriad-ukrainy-zaluchyv-22-mlrd-dolariv-ssha-zovnishnoho-finansuvannia
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. (2024). Trends in world military expenditure, 2023 (SIPRI Fact Sheet). https://www.sipri.org/publications/2024/sipri-fact-sheet/trends-world-military-expenditure-2023
International Monetary Fund. (2023). Ukraine’s EFF-supported program. https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/03/31/pr23104-ukraine-imf-exec-board-approves-usd-billion-extended-arrangement-extended-fund-facility
Wilson Center. (2024). Ukraine’s projected 2025 budget expects the war to continue. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/ukraines-projected-2025-budget-expects-war-continue
Abstract views: 93 PDF Downloads: 38
Copyright (c) 2025 Vitalii Polovenko
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The authors agree with the following conditions:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication (Download agreement) with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors have the right to complete individual additional agreements for the non-exclusive spreading of the journal’s published version of the work (for example, to post work in the electronic repository of the institution or to publish it as part of a monograph), with the reference to the first publication of the work in this journal.
3. Journal’s politics allows and encourages the placement on the Internet (for example, in the repositories of institutions, personal websites, SSRN, ResearchGate, MPRA, SSOAR, etc.) manuscript of the work by the authors, before and during the process of viewing it by this journal, because it can lead to a productive research discussion and positively affect the efficiency and dynamics of citing the published work (see The Effect of Open Access).
