On December 1, 2024, the "Winter Support" program launched, initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. It provides for the payment of 1,000 hryvnias for citizens who need help in a difficult economic situation. However, the program caused a mixed reaction among Ukrainians, and warnings are spreading on social networks: "Think three times before taking 1,000 hryvnias."
On the first day after the launch of the program, through the "Action" application, Ukrainians issued more than two million applications for receiving money.
After ten days of the program, there were already more than six million of them.
On the evening of December 10, the first applicants already received the money.
The government denies accusations of trying to control people's money, as well as other allegedly "secret" plans related to such a large-scale program.
In addition to suspicions of attempts to control citizens' funds, there are other doubts and versions. It is possible that they became a reason for many people to refrain from receiving money.
Together with experts and government officials, we checked to what extent those versions made sense.
"Marked" money from international partners
On December 1, Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a televised address announced financial support for all Ukrainians who are in the unoccupied territory of Ukraine.
"This is for each and every one - for everyone: for adults, for children. On average, several thousand per family," he emphasized.
At the same time, the authorities expect that "Winter support" will help the economy, since 1,000 hryvnias can be spent only on Ukrainian-made goods and services in Ukraine. The list is quite large: medicines, books, medical services, utility bills, mobile communications, Ukrzaliznytsia tickets or tickets to the theater and much more.
"This will additionally support Ukrainian micro- and medium-sized businesses. This money is marked. There is a certain circle where they can be directed," explained Oleksiy Sobolev, First Deputy Minister of Economy for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization.
"Winter Support" money can also be transferred to support volunteers and the defense of the country. According to the president, this state program can also become a "national donation program".
The government explained that one thousand hryvnias for each person is the remaining funds received from international partners, which do not have time to be used under other programs by the end of 2024.
The government cannot direct them to the Armed Forces or other military needs directly, as this is prohibited by the terms of international aid.
What does permission to disclose bank card data mean?
However, almost immediately after the launch of the program, accusations began to be made against the government in attempts by the authorities to establish control over the movement of funds in bank accounts.
Both experts and members of parliament (mostly opposition) referred to the text of the agreement with Privatbank on the opening of a special "National Cashback" card, which will receive the presidential thousand.
Screens of agreements began to appear on social networks, according to which a person consents to the transfer of data on transactions for the purchase of goods or payment for services using all bank cards and permission to disclose bank secrets.
"To receive a thousand, you are required to open a National Cashback card at any bank that participates in the cashback program. They won't give a thousand without opening the card. And you can join the program only if you give permission to transfer data about all purchases," wrote opposition deputy Volodymyr Aryev on Facebook and showed copies of the agreement offered by Privatbank.
Author of the photo, Volodymyr Aryev's Facebook
The state program "National Cashback" has been in operation for several months. It provides that the buyer will be reimbursed 10% of the cost of the product, if it is a Ukrainian manufacturer. Those who joined the program earlier, issuing a "cashback" card, also gave their consent to the transfer of transaction data. However, then these demands did not make as much noise as they do now.
Since money from the "winter" thousand can be spent on the same goods and services as under the "National Cashback" program, the government decided that the "cashback" card is the best for this.
"In order to guarantee where the funds will be spent, so that it is not "cash" withdrawn from an ATM, we decided that it would be faster and more correct to charge money to the "National Cashback" card, where certain restrictions and controls are already technically configured" , - Deputy Minister of Economy Nadiya Bihun explained to BBC Ukraine.
According to her, the permission to disclose information about transactions appeared because otherwise "Diya" would not be able to record the purchase of promotional goods and calculate cashback.
"The government's decree clearly states that this information is transferred only for calculating cashback, and not for any other purposes," emphasizes Nadiya Bigun.
Photo credit: Getty Images
In fact, people who plan to receive 1,000 hryvnias were put in the same conditions as those who participate in the "National Cashback" program for 10% refunds for goods.
That is, people gave permission to access information about the transactions of all their cards in the bank where they opened "National Cashback".
Causes of the agitation and consequences
The Ministry of Economy admits that this was the reason for the uproar around the topic of disclosure of transaction data.
According to the Deputy Minister of Economy, at the beginning, some banks did open a "National Cashback" card to receive 1,000 hryvnias, only if the client gave permission to transfer data to other cards of the same bank.
Today, she says, all banks except "one big bank" have changed this option. But communication with this bank continues and is not excluded, it will also change the settings in the banking application. She does not say what kind of bank it is, but perhaps it is about Privatbank, which was mentioned by deputy Volodymyr Ariev.
"In order to receive a thousand hryvnias, it is not necessary for a person to give permission for transactions on his cards. You can order a "National Cashback" card in the bank's application, but refuse to participate in the program itself with that name and do not give permission for data transfer to other cards, except for the card that will receive a thousand hryvnias," Nadiya Bigun assures.
On December 10, the Ministry of Economy reported that it had sent an additional explanation to banks "about the inexpediency of excessive requirements for the disclosure of bank data" during the implementation of the "Winter Support" program. Officials indicated that these requirements can apply only to cases when a person wants to join the "National Cashback" program.
Author of the photo, UNIAN
To date, six million people have applied for funds. In general, as predicted by the Ministry of Economy, no more than 15 million Ukrainians will use the presidential thousand. But this is an optimistic forecast. Pessimistic - 10 million.
Search for evaders and "quasi-census" of the population
However, the topic of disclosure of data on the movement of funds on customers' bank cards is not the only one that is discussed in social networks, and not only in them. There are also suspicions that registration for assistance is an alleged attempt to update the personal data of people who are currently in Ukraine and even to identify persons hiding from mobilization.
"We have a million men hiding somewhere. They have not gone abroad, they are not disabled, they are not reserved. If, for example, there are two men in the family who are subject to mobilization and two women, then it is four thousand hryvnias for them. And, of course, it is possible to stimulate somehow to get these funds only if the amount is more than one thousand," said Olha Vasylevska-Smaglyuk, a deputy of the "Servant of the People" faction, on the air of Svoboda radio last week.
She also believes that the "National Cashback" is calculated to count how many people there are in Ukraine and live permanently on its territory.
However, such versions are questioned by scientists.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Many of those who are hiding from TSK have even closed all their bank accounts, so it is unlikely that they will receive 1,000 hryvnias. The state has enough mechanisms even without the "National Cashback" to identify evaders, lawyer Volodymyr Yavorskyi told BBC Ukraine.
Since, according to the government's forecasts, only half of Ukrainians will use the aid under the "Winter Support" program, demographers also say that for this reason it is also not worth talking about something similar to a census when registering people for aid - you will not make a portrait of the country in this way, but it is possible to determine the population size in other ways.
Now they do it with the help of data from mobile operators.
"This is nonsense, there is no relationship between the issuance of 1,000 hryvnias and the census. And we can determine the population size anyway. There is a technique that I believe is unique," says Ella Libanova, director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research.
According to her, it is not only about using the data of three mobile operators, but also about involving all registries in the country.
"In general, we have more or less accurate data for Ukraine," says Ella Libanova in an interview with BBC Ukraine.
According to the Institute of Demography, the population of Ukraine in the controlled territory is 30 million. Taking into account the occupied - 35-36 million.
The Ministry of Economy's assumptions about a "quasi-census" are also surprising.
"Of course, we have a question about how much our population is - how many left, how many remained. But we have the Unified Demographic Register, we can count the number of those who left Ukraine during the war. That is, I don't know how to use the information from "Winter Support", - says Nadiya Bigun.
However, human rights defender Volodymyr Yavorsky believes that it is not necessary to completely reject the version about the use of the received data about people.
“I suppose there might be a hidden track here. It is not necessary to know about the entire population. Data on socially vulnerable groups of people can be useful. These are precisely the people who will most likely want to receive the presidential thousand, and if we are talking about a family, then several thousand," he said in a conversation with the Ukrainian BBC.
According to the expert, this information can be used in the future to influence these people with some temporary financial instruments or – more broadly – for political influence.
Volodymyr Yavorskyi reminds that in many countries election campaigns are conducted through targeting, i.e. selection of a target audience, and verified data on certain social groups of people is very important.
"Winter support" is not the last
In his address to Ukrainians on December 1, announcing the "Winter Support", the President stated that this would not be the last aid to Ukrainians in winter and in general throughout 2025.
And a few days after that, the government passed a resolution on the launch of another program in the "Diya" application - "eKnyga".
Young people who will turn 18 in 2024 will be able to receive assistance in the amount of 908 hryvnias for the purchase of books in the Ukrainian language.
The conditions for receiving this money will be announced later, but it is possible that the program will also be tied to the "National Cashback" card.
