Limitation of maximum pension in Ukraine: Constitutional Court checks legality

The Constitutional Court will verify the legality of the maximum pension limit established by the Verkhovna Rada at the request of the Supreme Court. KSU reported this on its official website.

As stated in the message, the Supreme Court, in its constitutional submission, requests to check compliance with Article 21, the third part of Article 22, the first part of Article 24, Articles 46 and 64 of the Constitution of Ukraine, as well as the provisions of the controversial legislation. Accordingly, the maximum pension cannot exceed the minimum subsistence amount determined for people who have lost their ability to work.

What does the Constitution of Ukraine say?

According to the constitution, the pension in Ukraine cannot be less than a subsistence minimum for persons who have lost the ability to work, and according to the law “On Pension Insurance” it cannot be more than ten subsistence levels.

The limitation on the maximum amount of pension was introduced by Law No. 668-VI of July 8, 2011 “On legal support measures for reforming the pension system”, called the Tigipko pension reform.

Later, women’s retirement age was increased to 60, insurance period was increased to 30 years for women and 35 years for men, and the maximum pension was limited to a minimum of 10 years. Then it was 7,640 hryvnia, now it is 20,930 hryvnia, and from January 1, 2024 it should be 23,610 hryvnia.

The Supreme Court appealed to the Constitutional Court after the Kirovograd Regional Administrative Court ruled that the limitation of the maximum pension violates two articles of the Constitution at once, namely Article 46 (the right of citizens to social protection in old age) and Article 64. prohibition on limiting the constitutional rights of citizens).

The case was ongoing in court on the claim of a pensioner who demanded that the Pension Fund pay for long service without limiting the maximum amount.

The Supreme Court decided that this issue would be evaluated by the Constitutional Court.

Request in the presentation of the Constitution

We are talking about checking legal requirements for the maximum pension amount (taking into account bonuses, increases, additional pensions, targeted cash assistance, pensions for special services to Ukraine, indexation and other additional payments to pensions established by law). Additional payments to allowances for certain categories of persons who have special rights for the Motherland may not exceed ten of the subsistence minimum established for persons who have lost the ability to work.

let’s remind this Focus I have already written that the current joint pension system in Ukraine exists only through subsidies from the state budget. To implement the plan to increase the amount of payments to future retirees while at the same time reducing the burden on the state budget, Ukraine is developing a mechanism for long-funded pensions.

We would like to add that Ukrainians who have reached retirement age should apply for a pension in a timely manner.