Yulia Tymoshenko calls for budget changes and an increase in the minimum pension to 7,241 hryvnia, as well as funding for the military

The Batkivshchyna faction demands an end to the policy that leads to the genocide of pensioners and calls for urgent changes in the state budget, in particular, to increase the minimum pension to the level of the subsistence minimum for persons who are not working, which is 7,241 hryvnia.

The said bill has already been submitted by the deputies of this faction, and the collection of signatures for a corresponding petition to the President has also started.

The leader of Batkivshchyna Yulia Tymoshenko emphasized that this issue concerns 9 million elderly people who receive a pension that is three times lower than the subsistence level, which forces them to live on the verge of survival.

“According to Ukrainian law, a pensioner cannot receive less than the minimum subsistence level. If the pension is lower, it simply leads to death. The minimum threshold that cannot be exceeded for payments to pensioners is 7,241 hryvnias. This law is ignored in our country not because there are no funds, but because of their inefficient use and corruption. Pensioners are actually being systematically destroyed, this is a real pension genocide!” – Yulia Tymoshenko noted.

She also recalled that the deputies of the Batkivshchyna faction have already initiated a bill to eliminate inefficient spending and have identified new revenue items that will allow increasing the minimum pensions for 9 million pensioners to 7,241 hryvnias, as well as ensuring decent payments to the military. Tymoshenko emphasized that at the moment “the monetary support of the military is 20 thousand hryvnias, and officers – 32 thousand”.

“We have started collecting signatures for a national petition and plan to visit every pensioner and military person to gather support for an appeal to the president to urgently revise the budget and stop the abuse of military personnel and pensioners in the country. We will achieve our goal, because such relations with people are unacceptable,” Yulia Tymoshenko concluded.

Deputy leader of the “Batkivshchyna” party Valery Dubil noted that pensioners now have to be careful about spending even on the most necessary things:

“When a person who has worked for 40 years counts change at the cash register and puts away a product because a few hryvnias are missing, this is an everyday humiliation. They are actually being driven to starvation, since the payments are significantly lower than the real costs of living.”

“Therefore, we insist on increasing the minimum pension to 7,241 hryvnias – to a level below which a person simply cannot physically survive.”

Additionally, Yulia Tymoshenko noted that the corruption of the authorities was the main reason for the deterioration of relations with the IMF. In the interview, she emphasized that the government should negotiate with donors without harming Ukraine’s sovereignty and strategic resources.

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