Ukrainian servicemen are entitled to pensions assigned under special conditions. This is provided for by the Law of Ukraine "

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Legislation on pensions and payments to the military was not designed for the current scale of hostilities. And the obligations that the country assumed back in peacetime could become an unbearable burden for its financial system, writes Economic Truth..

There are a number of key problems and risks that exist in the pension system for former security officials and the military and require changes..

Payments to active military pensioners are "

According to current legislation, the state is obliged to increase pensions for military pensioners not only during general indexation, but also if the amount of the monetary allowance of those military personnel who continue to serve increases..

That is, every time the state motivates defenders with a large financial support, it automatically increases payments for half a million retirees of the former military and law enforcement officers..

As a result, the government is narrowing down the possibilities of raising salaries in the army, because each such decision leads to an increase in the costs of the Pension Fund, which are very difficult to finance in a war.

The Ministry of Social Policy noted that in 2022 the state spent 58.3 billion on pensions for former military and security officials. UAH. However, these costs could be much higher, because the government did not index military pensions due to the increase in monetary allowance.. Some military pensioners, realizing this, tried to get large pensions through the courts.. And they won these courts. The total debt of the state in such cases reaches about UAH 22 billion.”.

Another consequence of such a system is that it is not the former military who will “benefit” from it the most, but the former employees of law enforcement agencies..

So, according to the Ministry of Social Policy, in July 2022, the average military pension was UAH 9,117, while for former employees of the State Security Department - UAH 12,300, the Judicial Security Service - UAH 14,220, and NABU - UAH 20,270.

The state supports the families of the military who received a disability less than the families of the dead.

Disabled military personnel and their loved ones have significant needs for state support. Often they need expensive prostheses, complex operations and rehabilitation.. All this requires significant expenses, which, finally, fall on the shoulders of the relatives of such a serviceman..

The amount of a lump-sum payment to a serviceman who received a disability in the service may be 15 times less than the payment to the relatives of the deceased soldier.

The current military pension system was not prepared for large-scale hostilities in which they are injured, disabled and killed daily.. Therefore, the state underfunds expenses in favor of the military and their families who have significant financial needs associated with treatment..

Special attention deserves the bureaucratic process of registration of disability or disability of military personnel, which remains too long.

Retirement benefits for the military will be difficult to finance.

Early retirement opportunities provided by the law to military and combatants could potentially result in a reduction in the workforce and an increase in the number of recipients of social benefits..

Moreover, the preferential retirement age (45 years) is available not only to regular military personnel and employees of law enforcement agencies, but also to everyone who participated in hostilities.. Potentially, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who will be able to retire 10 years earlier than civilians..

The demographic situation in Ukraine was difficult even before the start of the war. The birth rate was much less than necessary for the full reproduction of the population. At the same time, the number of recipients of pensions was even slightly higher than the number of those who paid contributions to the Pension Fund..

After February 24, 2022, the situation worsened, as millions of women of working age and, more importantly, children left the country. As a result, taxpayers to the Pension Fund and taxpayers in general in Ukraine will become less and less over time, while the number of recipients of benefits, on the contrary, will grow rapidly.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the cost of pensions for both the former military and the relatives of the deceased defenders is tied to the monetary support of the army. And they will grow every time.

On April 10, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law No. 8312 as a whole, thereby returning 30,000 additional payments to the military. More than 250 deputies voted for the amendment to the law. But the very next day, a draft resolution was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada temporarily blocking the return of these payments.. Recall what is now known.