Cynicism on the march: how people’s deputies quietly raised salaries for themselves and their assistants
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted resolution No. 11384 on increasing the salaries of people’s deputies’ assistants, which comes into force on July 1. From now on, their wages will increase by almost 44 thousand hryvnias. 264 people’s deputies voted for this initiative.
The proposal to increase salaries for assistants was put forward by the head of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Social Policy, Galina Tretyakov, known for her scandalous initiatives. She justified this by the fact that the increase in wages will help to strengthen financial motivation and retain qualified personnel. According to the document, the resolution was not only adopted, but also received approval in the main committee. Its review and adoption were carried out very quickly – the proposal was received by the Council on June 27 of this year.
According to the Regulations of the Verkhovna Rada, people’s deputies can have up to 31 assistants, while the deputy himself decides which of them will receive a salary, and who will work for free or part-time. Currently, 401 people’s deputies work in the Verkhovna Rada.
Before the adoption of the resolution, people’s deputies’ assistants received 88.4 thousand hryvnias per month, but now their salary has increased to 132.6 thousand hryvnias per month. This is 43.8 times the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons as of January 1, 2024.
The explanatory note to the draft law states that the previous level of salaries of people’s deputies’ assistants undermined the stability of the system of support for the law-making process and made it difficult to ensure decent wages. It was also emphasized that the salary increase will not affect the state budget of Ukraine and the funding of the Verkhovna Rada in 2024, since the funds for this increase will be taken from “saved labor costs with accruals of people’s deputies and their assistant consultants.”
The profile committee added that, in addition to increasing the monthly salary, deputies should be assisted in compensating assistant consultants for vacation days.
Mykola Tomenko, Ukrainian politician, People’s Deputy of IV-VIII convocations expressed your point of view regarding this situation:
“Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada quietly increased the salaries of their assistants, and actually themselves.
Dear assistants and assistants of the deputies of the warring Ukraine!
Yesterday, deputies from all factions and groups quietly increased the salaries of their assistants, and actually themselves, from 88 to 133 thousand hryvnias from July 1, 2024?!
Let me remind you that a people’s deputy can have up to 5 assistants on his salary. Instead, most deputies keep no more than 2 assistants. So in this case, from now on, these assistants will receive more than 66,000 hryvnias per month. It is true that there are deputies who have only 1 assistant, such as Mykola Tyshchenko. So she can count on all 133 thousand.
Let me remind you that in the absolute majority of deputies, assistants, drivers, relatives or relatives of other deputies work on salaries.
Thus, in practice, yesterday’s decision by the votes of all factions and groups means an increase in the wages of the deputies themselves.
Meanwhile, active deputies and officials report with horror the gap in the budget and the lack of funds for the Armed Forces and social and humanitarian programs.
I would also like to draw attention to another corrupt and cynical article of budgetary support for parliamentary parties, according to which only in 2024 party leaders will receive 840 million budget hryvnias for their advertising and party staff salaries.
So, as political folk wisdom says:
– someone fights, someone works and volunteers, and someone … earns from the budget of warring Ukraine.”
