One year left until retirement: how often Ukrainians buy additional work experience
25 February 18:20
Ukraine has a mechanism for voluntary payment of contributions to count toward insurance experience, but this practice is not widespread. This was stated in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian" by Mykhailo Tsymbaliuk, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Social Policy and Protection of Veterans’ Rights, Member of Parliament of Ukraine.
According to the parliamentarian, this most often applies to situations where a person is one year or several months short of the required length of service to retire. In particular, this applies to those who worked unofficially.
“For example, a person worked and received, conditionally, a salary in an envelope. Such a person, accordingly, does not have work experience, so they can buy it to at least have the right to retire,” he said.
Tsymbaliuk noted that sometimes relatives working abroad help to pay for the work experience – this can be done remotely through interaction with the Pension Fund. He emphasized that this practice does not discriminate against those who have worked officially all their lives, but on the contrary, fills the Pension Fund’s budget.
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The deputy also commented on the issue of crediting the work experience of Ukrainians who have worked in European countries. According to him, Ukraine has bilateral agreements with most European countries on pension provision, and work experience gained abroad can be taken into account when applying for a pension.
“Indeed, if a person worked abroad and then returned to Ukraine, they can apply for a pension here, and through inquiries we can determine what salary the person had there, how much work experience they have, and it will be counted,” he explained.
At the same time, there are cases when Ukrainians apply for a pension directly in the country of employment and receive it while staying in Ukraine. According to Tsymbalyuk, this is often more profitable, as the amounts of payments in EU countries are higher.
The MP added that the issue of a more accurate correlation of pension payments depends not only on Ukraine but also on the position of European countries, but he acknowledged that this would be a fairer mechanism for citizens.
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