In Ukraine, as of January 2024, the salaries of people’s deputies have been increased as a result of the revision of the living wage. At the same time, thanks to the government’s decision, the salaries of a large number of officials were reduced.
People’s deputies will receive more
The salaries of people’s deputies are tied to the living wage. However, in addition to the salary itself, deputies will receive funds for activity compensation, money for renting an apartment, and sometimes – bonuses for intensity. For example, Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk last year had a salary of UAH 32,200, but in reality he received an average of UAH 99,700.
Thus, according to the declaration, Stefanchuk received UAH 718,333 in salary and UAH 478,833 in compensation for expenses. That is, it is UAH 99,763 per month. This is three times more than the “bare” salary.
How salaries were raised:
- Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada – from UAH 32,208 to UAH 36,336;
- first deputy – from UAH 30,866 to UAH 34,822;
- deputy – from UAH 29,524 to UAH 33,308;
- head of the committee – from UAH 28,182 to UAH 31,794;
- committee member – from UAH 26,840 to UAH 30,280;
Every people’s deputy who does not have housing in the capital (or the housing is not registered for him) has the right to compensation for the cost of rent. They pay UAH 237.9 thousand per year. This is approximately UAH 19.8 thousand per month. For this money, you can rent an apartment in the center of the capital. UAH 88,400 is given per month for the salaries of assistants (another UAH 19,400 to compensate for salary taxes). 7.5 thousand hryvnias per month can be received for compensation of expenses for the performance of deputy duties.
A total of UAH 1.4 billion will be spent on the Verkhovna Rada next year. Last year, the parliament cost the budget 1.26 billion UAH.
How much will officials be paid?
In Ukraine, state authorities have traditionally left some vacancies vacant (about 30,000 vacancies remained vacant last year). The budget for these vacancies was received, and then distributed among other employees. Thus, it was possible to compensate for low salaries. In some positions, the allowances reached 260%.
For example, the head of the department, who manages 3-5 people, could have a salary of about UAH 10,000. However, it was impossible to find a manager for such a salary. Therefore, a large allowance was assigned, as a result, they could pay, for example, 26-30 thousand UAH, which corresponds to the salary of a middle-level manager.
But since the new year, the government has changed the rules and it is forbidden to receive salary increments, the amount of which exceeds 30%. The salary itself will be increased, but it will not help to maintain the market level of salaries. “When vacancies are not filled for years in order to have a salary fund to pay the minimum wage to people… They hang for years. Now, when the salary structure will change and there will be a decent salary, there will be no need for those “inflated” staff” – said Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleg Nemchinov on the air of the telethon.
