Budget against logic: how the state increases salaries for customs officers against the background of the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the impoverishment of medicine and education
While the country lives in a state of protracted war, hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs, and state employees – teachers, doctors, social workers – receive wages that allow them to modestly provide only basic needs. At the same time, there is a chronic lack of funds for the needs of the Armed Forces, volunteer meetings again close the holes that should be financed from the state budget. And at the same time, there is a parallel reality in the country, in which the exorbitant salaries and pensions of judges, prosecutors and high-ranking officials continue to grow. And even this, apparently, was not enough. The average level of salaries of customs officers, despite their already high amounts and the reputation of one of the most corrupt spheres, will increase by another 46%. In a country that daily seeks funds for critical needs, such a decision looks like a demonstrative disregard for the rest of society.
What is behind the 46% increase in salaries for customs officers
The statement of the Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko about increasing the average salary of customs employees by 46% passed through the information field quickly, but without reaction from politicians and experts. In a country where donations are collected daily for the army, where doctors and teachers receive salaries that do not even cover household expenses, the government decides to significantly increase the financial remuneration of one of the most controversial and problematic branches – the customs service.
On June 6, during the “Question Hour for the Government” in the Verkhovna Rada, Marchenko explained this decision as “part of the system reform”, the purpose of which is to restart the customs office, to make it attractive for qualified personnel and to reduce corruption risks. That is, before that she was unattractive, but for some reason it is almost impossible to get a job there without certain connections. The fact that salary increases will reduce corruption risks is also a controversial issue, taking into account the long-term experience of the officials of this and other “bread” structures.
In addition, Marchenko said that since April 1, a polygraph has been introduced for candidates, and since May, staff rotation has started and a new salary system has come into effect, which ensures the increase in salaries by almost half. The essence of the innovation consists in tying salaries to the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, taking into account professional qualifications, work experience, results and so-called “competency groups”. At the same time, the highest salaries are promised to those who meet more complex requirements.
It should be noted that on May 23, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a new salary system for employees of the State Customs Service, stimulating productivity and attracting specialists. Thus, the official salary of the head of the State Customs Service will be UAH 90,200, the head of customs — UAH 54,100. For an ordinary inspector — 29,800 UAH, and for a security worker — 25,300 UAH.
At this stage, a hierarchy is created within the positions themselves: for example, within the same unit there will be positions with different knowledge requirements and, accordingly, with different pay. In territorial customs offices, the gradation of positions is realized through three categories: chief inspector, senior inspector and state inspector. In the apparatus of the State Customs Service, on the other hand, for one position — the chief state inspector — an internal professional classification has been introduced by levels: high (30% of the total number of such positions), medium (50%) and basic (20%).
To this, generous bonus mechanisms are added: up to 90% of the salary in the form of allowances and up to 30% of the annual fund in bonuses. In the categories of IT and cyber security, salaries are planned to be kept 35-45% higher than those of other employees. Formally, in order to attract specialists and not lose competition to the private sector.
The logic of raising the salaries of customs officers
The official logic of the state is clear: the government wants to reduce the outflow of personnel, increase efficiency, break the old system, where a low basic salary was compensated by shadow profits. However, why, in this case, does the customs reform, which has no direct relation to the needs of the front, support of the rear, critical social spheres, receive such generous budget funding at a time when the Armed Forces of Ukraine is constantly underfunded? Why exactly now, in the midst of the war, in the conditions of a sequestered budget, when educators and doctors are not promised anything, the state is again raising the salaries of those who were already in the “zone of special privileges”?
Even if we assume that a motivational system in customs is really needed, its implementation in such a volume, at such a time and with such salaries does not give a reformist impression, but a system of demonstrative selectivity. In a country where volunteers buy drones with their own money, the decision to increase salaries in one of the most discredited structures seems to be at least a clear signal: the rules of resource distribution have not changed, and the war has not become a corrector of priorities.
Minister of Finance Serhii Marchenko pointed out that the reform of customs does not stand still, and that is why the government decided to increase the wages of officials and employees of customs authorities, because they need a motivational system. But this motivation arises without any logic. Why, in such a case, no one offers motivation — neither financial nor moral — to doctors who perform complex operations around the clock, or to teachers who conduct lessons in shelters and try to keep children’s attention to the sound of sirens. And this is not just injustice, but outright cynicism.
The average salary of a doctor in Ukraine in 2025 is about 23,000 hryvnias. What’s more, an intern doctor in a state hospital receives 15,000 — this is a level that does not allow renting housing and providing a living at the level of modern requirements. At the same time, the average annual salary of a doctor, for example, in Germany is 115,317 euros, and that of a specialist is 80,772 euros. It is not just a contrast, but an abyss. Ukrainian doctors, who keep medicine on the verge of physical and emotional burnout, see neither respect for their work nor prospects.
The state of affairs in the field of education is even worse. The average salary of a teacher is 13,000 hryvnias. In 2025, additional allowances should formally compensate for this meager base. This is a bonus for years of service: 10% after three years, 20% after ten, 30% after twenty. An allowance for the prestige of work, which can reach 30%, is assigned at the discretion of the manager. But these allowances are not a guarantee, their size is often underestimated, or they are canceled altogether under the pretext of savings. Teachers work in conditions that are not much different from a humanitarian disaster, but in their case the government is in no hurry with “motivational” decisions.
At the same time, judges, prosecutors, employees of bodies with the so-called “special status”, customs officers, tax officers – all this “elite” of the public service receive exorbitant salaries and pensions, which are not reduced even during the war. In January 2025, the preparation of the next pension increases for judges of the Constitutional Court was recorded. We are talking about amounts exceeding 100,000 hryvnias per month. While the average pension in the country is less than 5,500 hryvnias. How to explain to a Ukrainian pensioner who lost his home in Kherson region or Donetsk region that a judge is entitled to a “special” pension because he is an “elite civil servant”?
The decision to increase the salaries of customs officers is not an isolated case, but a symptom. This is part of a general strategy to preserve the inviolability of the civil servant caste, which for years has been a parasite on the system, and today, under the cover of war, it consolidates its privileges. At the same time, how many corruption schemes in this caste have been broken? How many criminal proceedings ended in verdicts? How many fair contests were held? What has changed in the system of risk management, electronic control, analytics, indicators? There are no answers to these questions, but there is money for salary increases.
Such a policy creates not motivation, but demotivation. To work honestly in the health care or education system means accepting a humiliating salary. Therefore, young specialists leave the country, universities do not select applicants for critical specialties, and nurses and paramedics go to work in retail because they pay more there. At the same time, the state once again demonstrates selective loyalty: it cares about those who have always had access to the “flow”, and not about those who hold this state physically.
And here the problem is not only an imbalance, but a complete lack of strategy. If the state wants to build an honest public service, it should start not with privileges, but with transparent rules. If you want to drive efficiency, you should implement KPIs. If he wants trust, he must explain the logic of decisions.
If the state budget foresees significant amounts of funds for increasing the salaries of customs officers, then a logical and socially important question arises: does the budget policy meet the real needs of people who suffered from the war? Isn’t it more expedient, having a resource, to direct it first of all to the treatment, medical and psychological rehabilitation of military personnel, veterans, children and civilians who have suffered physical and psychological injuries?
The priority of such costs does not require additional justification. Thousands of soldiers are left on their own after being wounded, with the need for expensive prosthetics, complex operations, and long-term rehabilitation, which still does not have a systemic nature in Ukraine. Often, the state compensates only part of the costs or does not provide funds for modern treatment at all. Many of those who have returned from the front do not have access to professional psychotherapy, and in the meantime, cases of destructive behavior and suicide among combatants are piling up. All this is the consequence of the lack of comprehensive support, to which, if there are resources, the state could direct funds in the first place.
The situation is similar with children who have experienced the loss of their parents, were injured or lost their homes. Despite the declared assistance programs, parents of such children often face difficulties in accessing treatment, logistics, and registration of statuses. Some families are forced to turn to volunteers, public organizations or collect money on their own. This does not indicate the absence of a budget, but the non-priority of such areas in financial policy.
Another group is civilians who became victims of shelling or explosions and lost their health. If these people do not have the status of a participant in hostilities or do not fall into the privileged categories, their treatment is often completely transferred to the shoulders of the victims themselves. At the same time, the compensation mechanism for the losses they suffered as a result of armed aggression has not yet been regulated in practice.
If funds are available in the budget, it would be logical and reasonable to direct funding to help the affected people and pensioners. And this is precisely a matter of social responsibility and elementary justice. The increase in the salaries of customs officers in 2025 took place against the background of constant statements by the government about the lack of funds for the primary needs of the army. The Ministry of Finance has repeatedly publicly emphasized that the budget deficit is critical, and every hryvnia is allocated to support defense and social expenditures. This justified the reduction of expenditures on medicine, the limitation of educational subsidies, the reduction of state funding for sick leave, compensation for destroyed housing, and benefits for veterans.
Another paradoxical situation should be noted. After June 17, the government is expected to present one of the most ambitious reforms in recent years — a plan for comprehensive restructuring of the State Customs Service. However, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, this customs reform plan will not move forward without hundreds of millions of dollars — money that is not currently available. The head of the government made this statement from the parliamentary platform during the “Question Hour to the Government”, answering the question why the law on the restart of customs has not been implemented for half a year. Shmygal’s words sounded like a dry admission of powerlessness: there is a plan, there is readiness, there is a law, but there is no funding.
The paradox of the situation is that until recently the United States planned to take on 90% of the financial burden of this reform. The USAID agency, which traditionally finances institutional building projects, was to become the main donor. However, as the general director of Ukrposhta, Ihor Smilyanskyi, who is officially responsible for the customs reform from the government from December 2024, explained earlier, due to the reduction of USAID programs in the world, Ukraine found itself without the promised support. Now the state is forced to look for alternatives. This means either shifting the burden to one’s own budget, which is unlikely in wartime conditions, or convincing new international partners to believe in Ukrainian customs more than Ukrainian business itself.
How many governments have promised to “clean up customs”? How many of them really wanted to reform it, and not use it as a source of income for “their people”? Rhetorical questions. The current government is trying to play a different game: to invite American standards into Ukrainian reality, but without money there will be no action and once again we will only be left with slogans. Meanwhile, customs remains a point of tension between the state, business and the public.
When the state, during a full-scale war, in the context of a state budget deficit, decides to raise salaries in a system that for decades has a reputation as one of the most corrupt areas, the decision to raise the salaries of customs officers looks illogical, contradictory and selective in the allocation of budget priorities. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance does not explain which sources will be used to finance the customs authorities, nor does it show efficiency calculations or the expected economic return from this decision.
In the conditions of war, when society regularly collects money for drones, cars, and first-aid kits, when volunteer initiatives cover the expenses that should be provided by the state, such actions of the government require clear explanations. Otherwise, this step is perceived as a continuation of the opaque practice of making decisions in closed mode without public discussion, even in matters that directly concern trust in the state.
