Subsidies are blocked: why Ukrainians still haven’t received assistance for utility services

At the beginning of 2025, Ukrainians were waiting for unpleasant news: subsidies and benefits for housing and communal services began to be delayed. Many citizens are contacting the Pension Fund with questions about the promised payments for February and March. Despite officials’ promises to resolve the situation quickly, real assistance has not yet been provided.

The delays are related to the new rules for calculating subsidies, which came into force in January 2025. Now, to receive a subsidy, the average monthly income per person must be less than 4,240 hryvnias. If income exceeds this figure, support is canceled. Many families found themselves in a difficult situation because previously, subsidies were not tied to income levels.

Citizens are dissatisfied: their offices on the Pension Fund portal show the accruals only for January, while data for February and March are not displayed. Promises to pay for two months at once in April have also not been fulfilled.

When contacting the fund, people describe the situation as “My subsidy has been renewed. I was paid for the winter. In April, the money was supposed to arrive for two months, but it still hasn’t arrived. ” In response, they receive a standard phrase: ‘Wait, everything will be in May.”

The Pension Fund acknowledges the problem and assures that the payments will arrive, but the delays are not caused solely by the change in the rules. Due to the large number of requests, the fund’s system cannot cope with the load, and many applications are processed manually, which delays the process.

Another important innovation is that even if a person is entitled to subsidies, they now need to regularly confirm their income and the relevance of the data provided. Any error or delay can lead to the suspension of payments.

Regarding benefits, specific population categories, such as pensioners and people with disabilities, received payments only in the spring, several months at a time. The reasons for the delays are again explained by “technical difficulties.”

The positive thing is that the new restrictions do not apply to combatants and persons with disabilities resulting from war: benefits are maintained for them regardless of income.