The state budget for 2021 is fictitious and put together artificially, and, therefore, impossible to execute. It is the conviction of the People's Deputy, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Aleksandr Dubinskyi.

He explained that the state budget could not be adopted as a whole after the second reading. It had to be finalized and considered in the third reading. Such a procedure is provided for by the current legislation.

“There is the first reading of the law followed by the second reading, and not its adoption as a whole, as happened in the Verkhovna Rada building. There is also the third reading in case a deficit and public debt adjustment is required. It takes place after taking into account all the people’s deputies’ amendments.” Dubinskyi explained.

The politician clarified that the deputies had to include an important amendment in the 2021 budget: so that part of the fuel excise tax (13.4%) was left in local budgets. After all, local budgets are responsible for maintaining roads of local importance, financing additional payments to the salaries of doctors, teachers, and even all the costs of oxygen access points in medical institutions. That is, providing hospitals with oxygen, which is extremely important amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“After the implementation of the amendments, the budget-2021 should be accepted as a basis in the second reading. Then it goes t to the third reading to correct the deficit and debt. Instead, speaker Dmitry Razumkov decided to vote for it as a whole. I did not vote for "in general", only for the second reading. Precisely in the expectation of a significant adjustment - the adopted amendments for 7.5 billion on fuel excise tax for local budgets. It is unprofessional to change the budget in such a way.” Aleksandr Dubinskyi stressed.

He believes that after the introduction of the changes, the budget should have been finalized (by the Ministry of Finance or by a specialized parliamentary committee) and voted in the third reading a day or two later.

Andrey Pshenichnyi and Valeria Samoshina for https://dubina.tv