Examining Ukraine's reliance on foreign military aid
The Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov called the three-year budgeting a "budget of victory."
But for us, slogans are not as important as numbers.
According to numbers, Russia will invest approximately $300 billion in the military sector over three years.
But another important point here is purchasing power parity.
With $300 billion, Russia can purchase a completely different volume of ammunition than in the West.
For comparison: the exchange rate of the hryvnia to the dollar in terms of purchasing power parity or PPP is about 10, although the exchange rate reached up to 40.
This means that with one US dollar you can buy goods in the United States as in Ukraine for 10 hryvnias.
And in Ukraine, goods can be bought for 25 cents that would cost one US dollar in the United States.
In my estimate, the PPP of the ruble to the dollar in the defense sphere is no more than 30 with an exchange rate of 90.
This includes both equipment costs and ammunition prices.
Therefore, Russia's $300 billion military budget over three years should correspond to $900 billion in military aid from our allies.
Or $300 billion per year.
If assessing a format of passive defense, it would involve 50% of such a budget, or $450 billion over the period, or $150 billion per year on our side.
Reducing the disparity in PPP for us is only possible through our own production of military equipment and ammunition.
In that case, Russia's $300 billion in spending would correspond to $200 billion in spending by us (less logistical reach in Ukraine without sanctions restrictions).
That is, around $60-70 billion per year.
