The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine urged to refrain from populism and recalled that additional monetary rewards for the Ukrainian military are accrued depending on the areas of hostilities and the complexity of the tasks performed by the fighters.
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UAH 100,000 per month is still saved for defenders fighting directly on the front line. 30,000 is paid to military personnel performing missions in combat areas, but not participating in battles with the enemy in proportion to the time of completion, as well as those on combat duty and participating in repelling enemy air attacks, regardless of the area in which the task is performed, the report says.
If the servicemen are outside the combat zone in the rear, then additional combat payments are not accrued to them. At the same time, from February 1, 2023, the minimum allowance for all military personnel was increased to UAH 20,100.
We are convinced that the Armed Forces of Ukraine should have a fair system of payments that will not create prerequisites for social tension in combat units and will treat soldiers who risk their own lives and health with respect. We ask you to stop engaging in populism and concentrate on the defense of our state,” the General Staff concluded.
Recall that from February 1, 2023, the procedure for paying bonuses to the military in Ukraine has changed. The so-called thirty were canceled – bonuses in the amount of UAH 30,000, which from the spring of 2022 were provided for all the military. At the same time, the minimum salary in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs / NGU was set at the level of UAH 20.1 thousand.
Behind the scenes, the change in approach is explained by the lack of funding in the Ministry of Defense with the growth of mobilized.
Now payments directly depend on the areas where the soldiers are located, the complexity and specifics of the performance of combat or special tasks. The payment of UAH 100,000 to front line soldiers remains, but the list of combat zones has been clarified.
Unconditional additional payments of UAH 30,000 to military personnel who are not fighting on the front line, canceled by the government, have led to a heated discussion in Ukraine. The Council is trying to return payments by a separate law, but so far the process is stalling.
History of the discussion
According to the open data of the portal openbudget.gov.ua, in January 2023, the share of spending on the army reached a record high in history, exceeding 50% of the budget of Ukraine. At the same time, the Cabinet of Ministers amended its resolution and canceled from February 1 centralized and unconditional additional payments in the amount of UAH 30,000 to servicemen who work in the rear. Although the ministries and state bodies have received the right to independently determine the procedure and conditions for the payment of additional remuneration for the military and other security officials, but only in individual cases.
According to the Ministry of Finance, budget expenditures only on military salaries in January-February amounted to UAH 148.7 billion. As Minister Serhiy Marchenko said at a meeting at the European Business Association at the end of March, the monthly revenues of the state budget are almost half as much – about UAH 80 billion.
The cancellation of payments drew criticism among the military. Several petitions were registered on the president’s website demanding the return of surcharges, which were supported by the number of people necessary for consideration. The deputies of the Verkhovna Rada also presented several draft laws that would allow the return of payments, in particular, at least for medical, logistics and other important departments.
On April 10, while considering changes to the law on the legal regime of martial law, the deputies suddenly voted for an amendment returning 30,000 bonuses to military salaries. It was proposed by a group of deputies led by the former speaker of the Rada Dmitry Razumkov, it was supported by 254 people’s deputies. This amendment states that for the period of martial law, an additional payment of UAH 30,000 should be received by military personnel, private and commanding officers of the civil protection service, and police officers, regardless of the tasks assigned to them or areas of service.
the monetary provision of employees, employees and officials of budgetary institutions and management of state enterprises, according to the amendment, should be limited to 10 minimum wages, established as of January 1, 2023. Thus, according to the plan of the parliamentarians, the additional budgetary funds necessary for paying the military should be dismissed.
The leader of the opposition European Solidarity faction, Petro Poroshenko, said from the rostrum of parliament that the return of military payments of 30 thousand is the state’s debt to the defenders.
The author of the amendment, Dmitry Razumkov, wrote about his initiative in his blog on the Ukrayinska Pravda website: “The military spend these payments on buying ammunition, body armor, repairing and refueling cars for the front. Everyone has their own families, who should live with dignity in the rear. It all needs money, and our military does not have to think every day how to feed a family while they are performing tasks.
A day after the vote for the amendment, the process of passing the law was blocked. Volodymyr Tsabal, a deputy from the Golos faction, has registered a draft resolution concerning a law that provides for the return of monthly payments to an additional 30,000 military personnel, police officers and rescuers. He accuses Rada of passing the law in violation of the procedure. When this decision will be considered is still unknown.
People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak from the “Voice” faction specified that so far the document is not planned to be considered in the hall due to the schedule of the Rada meeting. One way or another, now the process of passing the law, and hence the return of additional payments to the military, is blocked.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.