What Should a Fair Pension Amount Be? — An Expert’s Opinion
23 April 18:41
A fair pension in Ukraine should be at least equal to the minimum wage—approximately 8,000 hryvnias. Attorney Ivan Khomych made this statement in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
“In principle, you can get by on 8,000 hryvnias. But a pension of 3,000 hryvnias isn’t about living—it’s about survival,” the expert emphasizes.
Despite the fact that the Pension Fund’s budget for 2026 is a record high and formally balanced, the amount of payments remains low. Khomych is convinced that the reason lies not only in the numbers but also in the approaches to the distribution of funds.
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“The total budget of the Pension Fund of Ukraine for this year is about 1.2 trillion hryvnias. But that’s the total; it includes not only pensions but also social benefits, subsidies, and so on. Specifically, about 900 billion UAH is allocated for pensions. If you divide these funds by the number of pensioners—and there are over 10 million of them today—the result is more than 3,000 UAH,” he says.
The lawyer believes that the current level of pensions may be a deliberate political decision, since people with minimal incomes focus only on basic needs.
“A person receiving a 3,000 UAH pension is very easy to manipulate. They think only about basic needs and how to make it to the next payment,” adds Khomych.
At the same time, in his opinion, the state has the resources to raise pensions.
“I am confident that Ukraine has the capacity to raise pensions to 8,000 hryvnias. This is money that will remain in the economy, because pensioners spend it on goods and services,” he argues.
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