TRANSFER OF MILITARY PENSIONS THROUGH THE COURT. WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS AND PRACTICE?

In Ukraine, there have been lawsuits for many years between military retirees and the Pension Fund of Ukraine regarding the incorrect recalculation of pensions for servicemen. The basis for these lawsuits is the illegal recalculation of military pensions in 2018 on the basis of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of February 21, 2018 №103.

 In 2018, the Pension Fund recalculated pensions for servicemen with the following violations:

• - additional types of cash benefits were not taken into account when recalculating pensions;
• - the maximum amount of pensions was illegally reduced from 90 % to 70 %;
• - illegally did not pay 50 % of pensions in 2018, in 2019 25 %.

 The illegality and illegality of the provisions of the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers was established in the decision of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv in case №826/3858/18, which entered into force on March 5, 2019. This court decision abolished the clauses on reducing the amount of military pensions.

 In connection with the above violations, military retirees are forced to apply to the court to oblige the Pension Fund of Ukraine to recalculate pensions by the military without violating the legislation of Ukraine. Unfortunately, despite the unequivocal positive practice in this matter, the Pension Fund still does not voluntarily transfer pensions to servicemen.

 The court, in resolving the issue on the merits, obliges the Pension Fund not only to transfer the pension from the date of entry into force of the court decision, but also obliges the Pension Fund of Ukraine to pay all amounts of pensions unpaid to the military pensioner.

 However, the Pension Fund does not comply with court decisions regarding the non-refund of unpaid amounts of pensions, referring to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of August 22, 2018 №649, which provides for the priority of repayment of pension arrears.

 At the same time, by the Decision of the District Administrative Court of the city of Kyiv of November 12, 2019, which entered into force on July 22, 2020 in case №640/5258/19, this Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine №649 was revoked.

 Thus, this means that the Pension Fund of Ukraine will not be able to refer to this resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, and it will be difficult for it to justify non-compliance with court decisions on repayment of pension arrears.

 As we can see, even after receiving a positive court decision on compensation for unpaid pension amounts, there is no guarantee that this decision will be implemented.

 At the moment, the Pension Fund fully complies with the court in terms of recalculation of pensions for servicemen.

 If you want to recalculate your pension, contact the law firm "Prikhodko and Partners" - we will help you increase your pension!