The minimum payment to certain Ukrainians will be increased to 6,000 UAH
Ukraine is preparing a large-scale pension reform that calls for revising the mechanism for calculating pension payments and raising the minimum pension for certain categories of citizens to 6,000 hryvnias. At the same time, the government’s proposal calls for Ukrainians to take greater personal responsibility for securing their future pension benefits.
The government proposes to completely overhaul the principle of pension calculation by abandoning outdated formulas. If the new rules take effect, Ukrainian pensioners can be roughly divided into three categories, economist Andriy Zablovskyi, head of the Secretariat of the Council of Entrepreneurs under the Cabinet of Ministers, told TSN.
According to the expert, those currently receiving between 3,406 and 3,458 hryvnias will benefit the most in percentage terms. Their payments are planned to be raised to a guaranteed base level—up to 6,000 hryvnias, as proposed by the government, or up to 7,300 hryvnias if the Verkhovna Rada’s proposal is adopted.
This refers to citizens who, thanks to their long insurance record and officially high income, currently receive a pension of about 7,300 hryvnias. Under the new model, they will be entitled not only to the basic payment but also to an additional amount calculated using the pension points system.
According to the expert’s preliminary estimates, after the recalculation, their pension could increase to approximately 9,500–11,000 UAH, which would preserve the difference in payments based on their work contributions.
The most significant changes, according to the expert, will affect those who are counting on maximum pension payments. Currently, the law caps their amount at ten subsistence minimums for persons who have lost their ability to work, which currently amounts to 25,950 UAH. The proposed reform would remove the cap on the maximum pension based on this figure. Going forward, the amount of benefits will be determined through a pension points system.
At the same time, due to the existence of an upper limit on social security contributions—based on a salary not exceeding 15 times the minimum wage (currently 129,705 UAH)—no additional points will be awarded for income above this level. High pensions that have already been granted will remain in effect, but they will no longer increase automatically in line with rises in the minimum pension.
According to Zablovsky, the key objective of the reform is to move away from the current complex pension calculation system, which is considered insufficiently fair. Under the current model, citizens with the same length of service and similar salary levels relative to the national average may receive significantly different pensions simply because they retired 10–15 years apart.
The reason is that the amount of older pensions has effectively remained “frozen” due to the use of outdated average wage indicators in their calculation.
After the reform, pension payments will consist of two main components:
The basic (solidarity) portion. This is a fixed payment guaranteed by the state for retirees who have completed the full insurance period—35 years for men and 30 years for women. Its amount will not depend on one’s profession or past earnings.
Insurance (points-based) component. This is the individual component of the pension, which will be determined by a points-based system. Its amount will depend on the length of the insurance record and the amount of the Unified Social Contribution (USC) paid on behalf of the employee to the budget of the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU). The longer a person has been officially employed and the higher their contributions, the higher this portion of the pension payment will be.
If the salary was equal to the national average, 10 points will be credited per month. For earnings twice the national average, a person will receive 20 points, while for the minimum wage, they will receive 3.5 points.
Each year, when the state budget is adopted, the Cabinet of Ministers will determine the current monetary value of one pension point (for example, 30 UAH).
This figure will be used to calculate pension payments: the total number of points accumulated by a person over their entire working life will be multiplied by the current value of a point. This mechanism is intended to ensure the automatic adjustment of pensions awarded many years ago, taking into account current salary levels and inflation.
For Ukrainians who are already receiving a pension, a retroactive recalculation is provided for. The principle will remain the same: if, for example, in 2005 a person earned the national average salary, they will be credited with 10 pension points for each month of work.
Afterward, all points earned during their working life will be totaled and multiplied by the current value of one point, which the government will review and approve annually.
The Ukrainian government is considering a phased increase in the minimum pension as part of a long-term plan through 2029. Currently, the minimum pension is 2,595 hryvnias, and this amount may be adjusted in the future depending on the economic situation and budgetary constraints.
The Pension Fund will continue digitizing employment records after June 10.
The process of digitizing employment records is underway in Ukraine and is scheduled to be completed by June 10, 2026.
Here’s a reminder of the requirements for digitizing employment records.
The Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU) also explained what will happen to the non-digitized work history records of Ukrainians.
