ADDITIONAL PAYMENT FOR MILITARY PENSIONERS UAH 2,000. WHY DOES THE PENSION FUND OF UKRAINE TERMINATE SUCH PAYMENT AFTER THE PENSION IS CALCULATED?

Law № 2262-ХІ determines the conditions, norms and procedure for pension provision of citizens of Ukraine from the number of persons who were, in particular, in military service.

By this Law, the state guarantees decent pension provision for persons who are entitled to a pension by establishing pensions for them not lower than the subsistence minimum determined by law, recalculating the assigned pensions in connection with an increase in the level of financial support, providing the state social guarantees provided for by the law, using the state levels of measures aimed at their social protection.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, with the aim of gradually reducing disparities in the amount of pensions assigned to military personnel, senior and non-commissioned officers of internal affairs bodies (police), policemen and some other persons, and before the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of legislative acts on pension provision of military personnel and some other persons, adopted Resolution № 713 dated 14.07.2021 "On additional social protection of certain categories of persons" (hereinafter - Resolution of the CMU № 713).

According to the above resolution:

• to all pensioners who received a pension until March 1, 2018, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On pension provision of persons released from military service and certain other persons" № 2262, starting from July 1, 2021, a monthly supplement in the amount of UAH 2,000 has been established, which is taken into account during further pension increases.

However, as of today, most of our clients, namely military pensioners, were outraged that after carrying out "painful work" regarding the obligation of the PFU authorities to recalculate the pension based on an updated certificate taking into account additional types of financial support, whether as of 05.03 .2019 (for military personnel), or as of November 2019 (for former police officers) payment in the amount of UAH 2,000.00. in accordance with the specified resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine by the PFU authorities, it is terminated.

Why are pensioners not paid 2,000 hryvnias, stipulated by CMU Resolution № 713, after the pension is recalculated on the basis of the updated certificate?

In most cases, to the appeals of military pensioners regarding the reason for non-payment of the additional payment in the amount of UAH 2,000.00, after the recalculation of the pension on the basis of a court decision, the territorial bodies of the PFU in their answers refer to the norms of the same Resolution of the CMU № 713, where they note:

• in the event that the pension of the persons specified in the first and second paragraphs of this clause was revised (recalculated) after March 1, 2018, the monthly supplement established by the first and second paragraphs of this clause shall not be paid, unless the amount of the pension after such revision ( conversion) increased by less than 2,000 hryvnias. If the amount of pension increase at the time of its revision (recalculation) did not reach 2,000 hryvnias, the monthly supplement provided for in the first paragraph of this clause is set in the amount that is not enough to reach the specified amount.

Are such actions of PFU bodies legal?

Lawyers from our PRIKHODKO&PARTNERS Law Firm, who specialize in the pension provision of ex-servicemen and policemen, analyzed court practice and the reasons for what we believe to be illegal actions of the PFU.

We draw the readers' attention to the fact that, as of today, there is an ambiguous practice of the courts, both of the first and appellate instances, regarding this issue, and the PFU authorities are taking all procedural actions to defend their position.

However, the lawyers of our law firm analyzed the practice of the Supreme Court as part of the panel of judges of the Cassation Administrative Court, where:

• by resolutions dated 08.11.2022 in case № 420/2473/22 and dated 02.03.2023 in case № 600/870/22-a, the cassation appeals were satisfied and the respective Main Departments of the PFU were obliged to resume the calculation of the monthly supplement in the amount of UAH 2,000 in accordance with the resolution Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 14.07.2021 № 713 "On additional social protection of certain categories of persons"

The well-founded motivation of the Supreme Court in the above judgments is that:

• the recalculation of a pension carried out in compliance with a court decision in order to eliminate the violated right of a person to the proper amount of a pension, the right to receive which the person had before 01.03.2018, is not a recalculation of a pension in connection with a change in the components of monetary support or other indicators of the basic amount of the pension .

So, once again the territorial bodies of the PFU commit illegal actions against pensioners - military servicemen, underpaying the proper amount of pension.

How to restore justice and renew payments in the amount of UAH 2,000?

Unfortunately, in our practice, due to a pre-trial settlement (without filing a lawsuit in court), the PFU body will not make or, more correctly, renew such a "surcharge" and the refusal of the PFU will have to be appealed to the administrative court, moreover, it should be prepared for an appeal, and possibly a cassation instance