In front-line Zaporizhzhia, discussions regarding the allocation of budget funds are occurring more and more often. The city government allocates money for paving, shelters, roads and increases deputy funds, but citizens are insisting on helping the military. Recently people went to the rally “The Armed Forces are in Priority!” Dissatisfaction with the distribution of budget funds can be explained, for example, by the fact that as much as UAH 67 million was allocated for the maintenance and repair of roads in Zaporizhzhia – and this amount is not static, it continues to grow.

Analyzing local expenses, we noticed that officials also spend money on new cars. Such purchases during martial law can also be associated with extravagance, so we decided to investigate the issue with cars in more detail. It turned out that this story is polar, because, on the one hand, we came across the procurement of cars for the military, and on the other hand, we also found rather ridiculous purchases.

Since the beginning of the year, various Zaporizhzhia and regional structures have bought cars worth over UAH 107.4 million. Two more purchases for UAH 4.2 million are currently under consideration. Probably, soon, the customers will sign these contracts as well.

Sometimes the purchase of cars during martial law can indicate a senseless waste of taxpayers’ money, but the opposite also happens. After all, we are often talking about specialized, and therefore necessary cars, as well as cars for the military. However, these acquisitions are definitely worth monitoring, because when the village council buys an expensive German bus, it raises questions. Especially considering the fact that the front is only some 30 kilometers from the city.