In Ukraine, the rules for paying pensions in the occupied territories have been changed

The Cabinet of Ministers will continue to ensure that all citizens receive pensions, in particular those who are in temporarily occupied territories.  At the same time, the method of receiving a pension has changed somewhat. About this said in a government decree.

It is noted that in connection with the impossibility of receiving pensions through “Ukrposhta” by pensioners who are in the occupied territories after February 24, 2022, automatic opening of accounts in “Oschadbank” is provided for them.

Now we know about the following ways of receiving pensions by pensioners in the temporarily occupied territories:

• for persons who have already opened a bank account: if the pensioner received a pension on a bank card, pensions are credited to these accounts. You can also withdraw or transfer funds to another account;
• for pension recipients through “Ukrposhta”: “Ukrposhta” cannot deliver pensions to the occupied territories. In this regard, the PFU automatically opened accounts at Oschadbank for such pensioners.

In practice, everything is different

Given the difficult security situation and the lack of checkpoints, pensioners living in the occupied territories have no way to leave. Many of them did not know about the automatic opening of accounts at the initiative of the Pension Fund and did not contact the bank to conclude a contract.

What is needed to resume payments

If the pensioner does not apply to the bank or the Pension Fund for six months, the funds credited to the accounts are returned to the PFU. To resume pension payments, you need to do the following:

• submit an application for reinstatement of pension payments: it can be sent electronically through the PFU portal, after being authorized through a login and password, an electronic digital signature or DiyaPidpis;
• specify bank account details: if the pensioner has not opened an account in a Ukrainian bank, it can be opened remotely, for example, in “Privatbank”, monobank, “A-Bank” and others;
• identification procedure: The PFU must make sure that the pensioner is alive. There are two ways to do this: pass a video identification or log in to the PFU portal using Action.Signature. In the case of authorization with Diya.Signature, no additional video identification is required.