Salaries of officials have risen sharply during the war: economist explains who is paying for it
12 March 14:57
During a full-scale war, the salaries of government officials continue to grow significantly faster than the incomes of most Ukrainians. At the same time, these payments are financed by taxes from citizens and businesses. Andriy Novak, chairman of the Committee of Economists of Ukraine, spoke about this in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
“The salaries of officials are always financed from the state budget or local budgets, not just today. And both the state and local budgets are filled from only one source — taxes. Only taxpayers, individuals and legal entities, are the source of both the state and all local budgets,” he said.
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According to the economist, one of the reasons for the significant increase in salaries in the state apparatus is the lack of legislative restrictions or a clear formula for the ratio between the minimum wage in the country and the maximum wage in the public sector.
“We still do not have a legally established formula for the ratio between the minimum wage in the country and the maximum wage in the public sector. For example, salaries in the public sector cannot be more than 10, 15, or 20 times higher than the minimum wage. If such a formula were enshrined in law, then there would be no situation where each government agency effectively sets its own salary fund,” says the economist.
Novak also noted that without such a restriction, officials’ salaries could significantly deviate from the real level of income of the population, especially in wartime.
“Until a formula is enshrined in law linking the maximum salary in the public sector to the minimum or average salary, we will continue to see a situation where officials’ salaries are increasingly detached from reality and from the level of income in the country,” he added.
It should be noted that, according to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the average salary of the Verkhovna Rada’s leadership increased by 60% in 2025. In January 2025, the average salary of the Verkhovna Rada’s leadership was UAH 198,000, while in December 2025, it was UAH 317,000.
For comparison, the average salary of the leadership of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers increased by 40%, and that of the Pension Fund leadership by 57%.
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