How much money was allocated from the state budget for the environment in frontline cities in 2025

The frontline cities of Donetsk Oblast continue to allocate funds for environmental protection, but due to the difficult security situation, some communities have had to cut funding.

This is stated in an article by the Free Radio publication.

Find out how much money Donetsk Oblast communities have allocated for environmental protection:

1) Slavic community

In 2025, the budget of the Sloviansk community did not allocate funds for the environment, just like last year. There is currently no funding to reduce air, water, and soil pollution. No funds have been allocated to improve waste management or biodiversity conservation.

In addition, the construction in Sloviansk has been suspended:

1. buy saplings for landscaping park areas;
2. measure air quality with an automotive monitoring laboratory.

2) Kostiantynivka community

In Kostiantynivka, the environmental budget was cut by more than 20 times compared to last year. However, unlike Sloviansk, Konstantynivka still allocated funds for environmental protection.

The amount allocated in the city is the most modest among all communities – UAH 10 thousand. However, last year's budget for environmental protection was higher – UAH 210 thousand. UAH 173 thousand was a transfer from the oblast budget.

The reason for the reduction in funding

Funding for the environment was cut because the money was used to evacuate people and recover from Russian shelling. Therefore, the city does not receive funding:

1. inventory of pollution sources;
2. inspection of hydraulic structures;
3. purchase of new garbage containers;
4. monitoring of environmental conditions;
5. greening of the community’s settlements.                   

3) Druzhkivka community

This year's budget for environmental protection in Druzhkivka is over UAH 1 million. UAH 1.1 million has been allocated to combat unauthorized landfills in the community, according to the local socio-economic development program.

Another half million is planned to be spent on 100 new garbage containers. In addition, 47 thousand hryvnias have been allocated for the "elimination of other types of pollution."

The Druzhkivka community is the only community in Donetsk Oblast that claims to be fully implementing the planned environmental protection measures.

4) Dobropillya community

UAH 2 million was allocated to support the environment in Dobropillya.

But this is still less than last year. A year ago, UAH 3.4 million was budgeted for this item (UAH 1.5 million from the local budget and UAH 1.9 million from the regional budget).

In total, over 3 years of full-scale war in the Dobropillia community, the program was canceled:

1. the restoration and maintenance of the Byk River;
2. reconstruction of the sewer collector on Shevchenko Avenue;
3. landscaping and inventory of plantings;
4. operation of the environmental monitoring system;
5. printing of brochures and posters about nature protection and other related activities.

5) Sviatohirsk community

This year, the Sviatohirsk community allocated UAH 8.8 million for environmental protection.

What was spent on:

1. 2.5 million hryvnias were allocated for the collection, transportation, and disposal of unauthorized dumps in the community;
2. an additional 6.3 million hryvnias were received by the community's budget as a subvention from the regional budget to purchase a garbage truck, which is planned to be used for cleaning up the aftermath of military actions in the community.

In 2024, the Sviatohirsk community allocated less for environmental issues – 4.9 million hryvnias. The funds were spent on garbage and unauthorized dump removal that appeared during the temporary occupation in 2022. 

There is no funding in the budget for other environmental improvement measures. Thus, due to the full-scale Russian invasion, it was necessary to cancel: 

1. landscaping and inventory of plantings in the community's localities;
2. operation of the state environmental monitoring system;
3. holding scientific and technical conferences, seminars, exhibitions, and festivals for the promotion of nature protection;
4. printing of environmental publications and creating libraries, video libraries, and audio collections to promote nature protection.

6) Lyman community 

In the Lyman community, even more has been allocated for the environment in 2025 – 22.8 million hryvnias. 

Last year, 14.8 million was allocated to this sphere, but only a small portion of the sum was used: 

1. 2.4 million hryvnias were spent on purchasing garbage bins and cleaning up landfills (these expenses were possible due to the subvention from the regional budget);
2. 45,000 hryvnias were directed to expert assessment of the ecology for the community development project.

According to local authorities, funds are primarily allocated for critical needs, such as ensuring the population’s livelihood, restoring infrastructure, and eliminating the aftermath of destruction. 

Therefore, this year, not the entire allocated amount will be spent on environmental activities in the Lyman community. In particular, due to the full-scale war, funding has already been stopped for: 

1. landscaping;
2. improvement of public amenities;
3. creation of recreational areas.

We would like to remind EcoPolitic readers that in 2024, the EU budget for environmental protection became a record and exceeded defense spending.

Last year, the total spending of the European Union on environmental protection reached €359.9 billion, a record high for the last 10 years, exceeding the bloc's defense spending in the same year.