In April, the main changes will concern the personal finances of Ukrainians. The minimum wage and pension will increase, and teachers will receive more.
But some categories of citizens, on the contrary, will lose part of their income. And higher figures may appear in utility bills.
Minimum wage and pension will increase
Starting April 1, the minimum wage in Ukraine will increase by 900 hryvnias. It will amount to 8,000 hryvnias, or 48 hryvnias per hour.
Such changes were provided for in the state budget for 2024. The last time the minimum wage was raised was in January of this year - to 7,100 hryvnias. In 2023, the minimum wage never changed and was 6,700 hryvnias.
The new minimum wage will affect the amount of some taxes and fines associated with it, as well as sick leave and maternity benefits.
The minimum pension will also increase and from April will be 3,200 hryvnias instead of 2,840 hryvnias.
Civil servants are being cut, and so are their salaries
The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to reduce the number of civil servants by 19.3 thousand from April 1. These changes will apply to both local authorities and ministries and departments.
Vacant positions will be reduced, and such changes will affect the salaries of government employees.
And all because the civil service payroll was formed based on the maximum number of employees, including vacant positions, and this made it possible to significantly increase salaries for employees.
“The incentive bonuses were unlimited. For example, in one of the structural divisions of the regional state administration, the salary of an employee of the accounting department was 11 thousand hryvnia, and the bonus was 620 percent,” said Deputy Minister of Finance Roman Yermolychev.
However, some heads of regional state administrations expressed fears that such a pay reform would lead to an outflow of civil servants.
PHOTO AUTHOR, UNIAN Photo caption, In many schools, teachers are conducting lessons remotely
Teachers will be paid more
Teachers' salaries will increase in April. This will be the second pay increase for educators since the beginning of 2024. In January, the government increased salaries by 10%, and from April 1 - by 12.6%.
Indexing has not been carried out since the full-scale Russian invasion.
In April, teachers' salaries will increase by approximately 1,000 hryvnias. As Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi said, the average teacher's salary will be 16,000 hryvnias.
Payments under the “A Child is Not Alone” program
In April, the government is introducing a new type of child assistance under the “A Child is Not Alone” program.
These are children who have been left without parents but have not acquired the status of an orphan or a child deprived of parental care.
The money will be received by those who temporarily took such children in - relatives, acquaintances, as well as if the child was sheltered by a foster family or a family-type orphanage.
PHOTO AUTHOR, GETTY Photo caption, During the war, more than 10 thousand children were left without parental care
The assistance was introduced so that families temporarily hosting such children could provide them with the necessary conditions and care.
Depending on the child's age, the amount of payments will range from UAH 6,407 to UAH 8,000. If the child has a disability, it will range from UAH 8,970 to UAH 11,190.
The government decree stipulates that such funds will be paid within six months to those who are in Ukraine. For this, future recipients of assistance should contact social services.
According to the Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, since the beginning of the war, more than 10,000 children have been left without parental care. Of these, more than 1,600 have been left without parental care due to the death or disappearance of their parents.
PHOTO BY GETTY
Water tariffs will increase
An increase in cold water tariffs for household consumers is planned for April.
Previously, suppliers promised not to change prices for services for the population until the end of the heating season. The heating has already begun to be turned off, but even before that, some local supply companies announced tariff increases.
In particular, in Kyiv, the cost of cold water will increase from UAH 30.38 to UAH 40.77 per cubic meter.
Tariffs will be changed differently depending on the region. Significant increases are expected, in particular, in Vinnytsia and Dnipro.
Moreover, it was planned that the tariff increase in April would not be the last. The next one is scheduled for July 1.
Last year, the National Commission for the Energy and Utilities of Ukraine (NKREKP) already decided to increase the tariff for cold water by an average of 32%, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stopped such plans.
As for electricity, there are currently no official reports of a price increase, but experts have suggested that this could happen shortly after the end of the heating season.
At least, the moratorium on increasing the cost of services during martial law applies only to gas, heating, and hot water.
PHOTO BY GETTY
Humanitarian cargo – only by electronic declarations
From April 1, all humanitarian cargo transported across the Ukrainian border must be registered only electronically, in the Unified Automated System.
The government explained that the new system was being introduced to stop abuses in this area. According to the State Customs Service, a third of humanitarian aid intended for the military was going unreported.
When the government decided on electronic registration in December last year, volunteers who transport goods needed by the army to Ukraine were outraged that this would slow down the arrival of aid.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to establish a transition period of four months, until April 2024, so that all organizations or individuals would be able to file customs declarations both in paper and electronic form. Now this transition period has ended.
