Pension increase to 6,000: there are no tens of billions in the budget
26 February 15:16
The Ministry of Social Policy is working on reforming the pension system, which is expected to raise the minimum pension to UAH 6,000. The initiative will affect at least one-third of pensioners and cost the state tens of billions of hryvnias, which are currently not available in the state budget. This was stated in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian" by Mykhailo Tsymbalyuk, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Social Policy and Protection of Veterans’ Rights, People’s Deputy of Ukraine.
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It should be noted that according to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2026, there are 10.2 million people registered as pensioners in Ukraine.
“That means at least 3 million pensioners will be affected by the increase. In reality, this is not a small amount of money. It’s tens of billions. Today, there is no such money in the budget,” says Tsymbaliuk.
According to him, the government must provide the necessary resources, but so far, parliamentarians have not seen any clear calculations.
“At least, I, like my colleagues, have not seen such calculations,” he added.
One of the possible ways to finance this, according to Tsymbaliuk, is through negotiations with international partners, who currently cover a significant part of non-military budget expenditures. At the same time, he acknowledged that the International Monetary Fund, in particular, is reluctant to agree to such decisions due to the complexity of returning funds.
At the same time, he noted that without systemic pension reform, the problem cannot be solved. According to him, the introduction of a cumulative system directly depends on GDP growth and the development of the stock market, which has not actually functioned in Ukraine since 2014.
“We need to carry out reforms and finally tell people the honest truth. But there must be a two-way, even three-way movement in this direction,” he said.
Tsymbaliuk emphasized that the state, employers, and employees must be involved in the changes, and the tax burden must be such that it is profitable for all parties to pay.
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