Allowances, bonuses, holidays. As the salaries of officials change during the war
For example, in December 2021, the head of the State Tourism Agency of Ukraine (Dart) received bonuses, allowances and other payments in the amount of 1720. 02% of its monthly salary - UAH 535 thousand before tax. Focus decided to find out what was happening with the salaries of officials when war is underway in Ukraine.
"Even before the start of the Russian invasion, we processed the reform of the system of payroll of civil servants on the basis of classification of positions," said focus Natalia Alyushin, Head of the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service (NADS). - This system involves the introduction of a clear, transparent salary structure with limited variations up to 30% and a permanent share of up to 70%. " This model was expected to be introduced during 2022-2023.
Natalia Alyushina notes that in the conditions of war after two sequesters, salary funds in state bodies have declined significantly. The focus interlocutor adds that she even knows about salary delays and a general practice of refusing bonuses and intensity allowances. At the same time, the interest in unusual appointments for high positions and the level of salaries of officials in Ukraine does not subside even against the background of hot news from the front.
In particular, in July, it became known for the appointment of Minister of Social Policy of 25-year-old Anna Sergeyeva with experience in several years in the field of beauty industry. In response to the request of the media to the Ministry of Social Policy, it was reported that Sergeyev established a salary in the amount of 68 643 UAH per month. For comparison, the salary of President Vladimir Zelensky in 2022 is 28 thousand UAH per month.
Also in July, considerable resonance caused information about increasing the compensation of MPs. The reaction of society to a similar information wave was the creation of several petitions, whose authors called for reducing the salaries of deputies to a minimum amount, which in Ukraine is 6500 UAH before tax. And recently, focus wrote that salaries in Ukraine have decreased by 30-40%, so candidates without experience can offer critically low salaries up to 10 thousand UAH.
But in the state sector the situation is slightly different from private enterprises and firms. "Some number of officials continue to receive bonuses and allowances as before. This situation is because these officials determine the amounts of payments themselves," - comments the situation Igor Chudovsky, the manager of the lawyer's association "Chudovsky and partners.
" According to the interlocutor of the focus, the bonuses and allowances are cut mainly in the state officials of the lower level, most of whom now receive only the amount of salary. In May 2022, a survey of 45 thousand civil servants showed the following results: according to Alyushina, the greatest reduction of salaries was felt in the state institutions and the level of jurisdiction (Cabinet Secretariat, Presidential Office and Verkhovna Rada, where 79.
1% of respondents reported their salaries with the beginning of the war. That is, in July, the deputies tried to play the lost, which was explained by the Redistribution of funds within the estimates. The Prime Minister and the salaries of the Cabinet of Ministers, who are given information in the document, were paid in June 2022 without allowances for intensity and bonuses within the salary.
In this case and for the performance of particularly important work, and therefore their reward was slightly higher than in ministers. Natalia A Lushina acknowledges that the system of remuneration at the civil service is unclear and unfair, which is especially noticeable at the level of areas where salaries are often less than the minimum wage.
"Currently, the issue of redistribution of budgetary funds to increase the salaries of lower levels, since inflation is high enough, prices for products and household goods are increasing, and salaries, on the contrary, are actually decreasing, - says Igor Chudovsky. budget expenditures and possibly to support international partners of Ukraine.
" In order for the optimization of salaries of civil servants to be conceived, the NGOs developed a functional audit technique that allows the authorities to give up unnecessary functions and concentrate on topical, in particular related to the provision of the necessary services to citizens. "After the relevant analysis, government agencies should determine the required number of personnel to perform functions that are really relevant in wartime.
The data obtained will allow you to formulate proposals for optimization of the staff of each authority, save valuable personnel and save budget expenditures," Alyushina explains. In the meantime, the Cabinet has raised salaries to civil servants by 200 UAH. In July, the CMU Resolution No. 788 appeared, where the salary of a specialist of state structures, whose jurisdiction extends to the territory of one or more regions, increased from 5. 1 to 5. 3 thousand UAH.
And the salary of officials operating in the territory of one or more districts, districts in cities, cities of regional importance, increased from UAH 4962 to UAH 5. 2 thousand. Local government officials receive salaries from local budgets, and from the beginning of the war and at the expense of the state budget.
Oksana Prodan, the adviser to the Chairman of the Association of Cities of Ukraine on Municipal Affairs, states that there are four types of territories in local self -government now: Oksana Prodan specifies. - These territories do not receive revenues to their own budgets, some of the employees are in occupation, some are abroad, some scattered in Ukraine, so they receive a minimum, although they continue to work with other tasks.
" In the fighting zone, according to Prodan, communities also have a limited number of people in places with significantly increased load and minimized income. There, community heads try to align everyone in place at minimal opportunities. The focus interlocutor adds that in the liberated territories of local budget revenues is often insufficient, many employees remain in evacuation, and there are no funds for payment of large salaries.
In such a situation, to return or reduce employees, the Cabinet of Ministers No. 440 "Some issues of organizing the work of civil servants and employees of state bodies during the martial law", which will be discussed below. A completely different situation in the regions where many refugees moved from the war of Ukraine. "The number of taxpayers has increased in the rear regions, the budget comes to the budget, and it is possible to pay extra to employees," Oksana Prodan reports.
Indeed, social networks are sometimes indignant that some local officials receive hundreds of thousands of hryvnias during the war and allow themselves to vacation abroad. Interestingly, the mayors of settlements often have a much lower salary than their deputies. Oksana Prodan specifies that the mayor and the management of local councils are approved by the relevant local council, which in the absence of a permanent majority makes the salary increase is almost impossible.
However, when the mayor has a confident majority in the council, the control over the size of their salaries, according to the interlocutor of the focus, is only possible from the media and the opposition. In fact, regional media and activists closely monitor the lifestyle of local officials.
In particular, the local publication recently released the rating of salaries of Kremenchuk officials for June: the media reported that the mayor of Radivilov of Rivne region and his deputies are higher than that of the head of the regional center. It is specified that the head of the Radivilov city territorial community Mykola Karapetyan for the first half of 2022 earned 426 714 UAH.
Despite the announced reduction in the state apparatus reported by the focus, mass dismissals of officials are not taking place. According to NGOs, almost 12,000 civil servants have been released since the beginning of the year. Of these, 8. 5 thousand people left the civil service for the period from February 24 to July 1. According to Natalia Alyushina, if necessary to save money of the payroll fund, employees were sent to a simple or granting leave, including at their own expense.
However, a certain number of women - civil servants, probably dismissed because of the rules of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 440, which establishes that the work of civil servants outside Ukraine is allowed only in the case of a business trip.
"Many women who worked in budgetary institutions before the war were placed: either return to a dangerous region, or take a vacation at their own expense, or get disciplinary penalties and dismissal," explains the consequences of this decision by Marina Semenov, lawyer of the lawyer's Bureau Semenov and partners. " Abroad any job. " We will remind, at 6500 thousand UAH within the initiative "there is support" 25 thousand Ukrainians were mistaken.
These were employees of budget organizations who, under the law, could not claim such financial assistance. As a result of the measures taken, the funds are returned to the extrabudgetary account of the Ministry of Economy. That is, "support", which civil servants have already spent, must be returned.