How payments will change in 2024

Salaries, pensions, subsidies. How will payments change in 2024? Will the state treasury have money for indexation and raises? And most importantly, will we be paid in a timely manner if the assistance of our international partners is delayed?

Olena Loginova asked Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy, about all this.

Olena Loginova, correspondent:

Ms. Minister, I'd like you to comment on a few economic indicators first. According to the Ministry of Finance, Ukraine had a record state budget deficit last year, and it exceeded UAH 1 trillion. We are also entering the new year with a deficit - according to forecasts, it will be more than one and a half trillion hryvnias. The government plans to cover the budget shortfall with the help of international partners. But. Do we have a plan B in case the aid is insufficient for some reason? Will we then find money for basic social payments?

Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine:

I would like to say that we see the support of our international partners. Just a week ago, I returned from a meeting of the Ministers of Social Policy of all Council of Europe countries, where we discussed this issue, and I understand that even if a decision is not made at the level of the European Union to transfer certain tranches to us, individual countries will still allocate resources as part of their obligations so that we can cover all our social expenditures and provide people with targeted assistance to those who need it most.

If we saw that the number of recipients of assistance was increasing so radically that we were not closing the most basic ones anyway, then of course we would revise our spending system to prioritize those for whom it is the main source of survival, And then we will see for whom it is some privileges, for whom it is some additional payment, for example, court decisions to increase pensions for certain categories of people - obviously, these expenses will remain in the queue, and for those expenses that are essential for survival, these will be priority expenses.

So we don't have to worry that we won't have enough money for pensions?

No, we will find money for pensions and social benefits to survive. Perhaps we have stopped sanatorium and resort rehabilitation, because the rehabilitation we are developing is more of a recreational format, some additional programs that are not vital for our citizens.

This year, the security and defense sector will remain the number one priority for the state. Do you think it will be possible to increase pensions, salaries, and social benefits in the context of the war?

The state budget has already been approved - our budget has funds for pension indexation. I would like to emphasize that the ability to carry out such indexation depends on Ukrainians - on taxpayers and unified social tax. And here I urge each of you to understand that the Pension Fund's funds are paid directly to our pensioners 100% in transit for those pensions that are high - judges or other categories - these are separate state subsidies and they do not pay insurance benefits. Therefore, we will plan for everything we collect. Thanks to our military, we are covering insurance pensions and I am sure it will continue to be so, and this will allow us to stabilize and go through this year in a stable way.

Starting from February 1, a significant number of IDPs may stop receiving their accommodation payments. Can you explain in more detail which IDPs will be left without support and for whom the payments will continue?

We have now submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers amendments to the resolution on payments to internally displaced persons, which significantly relaxed the criteria, because we realized that especially in the areas where they live most - Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv - there is no full-time education. If it is not available, then one of the household members is forced to be involved in raising children, and this is a criterion that we have taken into account, so, for example, from a family of four, one will be obliged to work, and the mother or father of choice, if there are children, will be able to take care of them and declare that they are providing care. We continue to pay pensioners, because we understand that this is the main source of support and their living, and for people with disabilities, we tried to take into account all possible options to keep supporting internally displaced persons.

"People in need of support receive housing and utility subsidies. The procedure has been simplified as much as possible," was a recent statement by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. He even urged Ukrainians to apply for subsidies. Let's take a closer look at what is changing this year in the procedure for receiving compensation for housing and utility services and whether the state has the money for these payments?

There is enough money. We even predict that if the cost of energy for households increases, we will have this surplus to cover everyone who needs it - the cost of housing and utility services through subsidies. It is very much automated. I would say it is revolutionarily automated. Now we require a short declaration from a person stating that they need such assistance and listing the people who make up the household. And everything else - how much income these people receive, if there are any household members abroad, so that they are not taken into account.

We check all this data, and we even have the opportunity to receive information about the payments of such people because the pension fund has an office for housing and communal service providers, where they themselves enter which tariffs or services for which houses for which apartments - and this allows us to significantly reduce the burden on people because they are not required to submit all these certificates. Here I appeal especially to condominiums, small service providers, please register in the pension office to help your residents receive the subsidy they are entitled to by indicating what tariffs and payments you send.

Your overall forecast for the coming year. In terms of finances, for which Ukrainians will 2024 be more difficult than the previous year, and who will continue to be under the state's care?

It will be a somewhat difficult year for all Ukrainians because we are getting tired, but we need to be sustainable in terms of our social policy. We will try to uphold all our guarantees, which are defined by the current legislation for all people in poverty, for people with many children, for people with children under guardianship or foster care, for people with disabilities, for pensioners. In other words, under any circumstances, I am sure that we provide them with the necessary minimum to survive. I am not saying that these benefits can be radically increased, but we will try to do everything to ensure that they are paid on time, systematically. Just as we have done so far.