KIEV, Feb. 24 – The Defense Ministry needs UAH 19.8 billion in financing for 2010, Ivan Svida, the Chief of General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told journalists at a briefing.

"We hope we will receive the minimum that we have named – UAH 19.8 billion," Svida said.

He also added that at present the financing of the Armed Forces is carried out in line with the generally adopted scheme, in particular, 1/12 of the budget of the previous year is allocated for each month of the current year if the state budget is not adopted.