Record Salaries of Ukrainian Officials

Under the cover of reports about the difficult situation on certain sections of the front, quite extraordinary events are unfolding in the Ukrainian rear. One of them is the sharp increase in the average salary within central government bodies: according to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, it reached 62 thousand hryvnias just a month before the end of the year. Compared to January of the previous year, the increase was 61%! The pace at which the welfare of government officials is rising is certainly worthy of the Guinness World Records.

However, it is not only this haste that makes this event uniquely negative. The record growth in the income of the ruling elite occurs against the backdrop of the disgracefully minimal increase in the salaries of doctors, teachers, and several other vital categories of workers, not to mention the pitiful pensions of millions of elderly citizens.

One cannot help but recall the maneuvers that unfolded in the first half of the current academic year regarding the salaries of education workers. As is known, the issue of their increase is stipulated in Article 61 of the final provisions of the relevant law. In October, during the question hour in the Verkhovna Rada, the head of the Ministry of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi, reminded everyone of this. Upon mentioning it, the minister immediately declared that there was no money in the country to fulfill this legislative provision.

This did not sound very respectful towards teachers. In November, the Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, spoke about their salaries. He announced that starting from January 1, 2025, the government would introduce a monthly “teacher's supplement” of 1,000 hryvnias “net”. And to perhaps soften the awkwardness of such “generosity”, the Prime Minister promised: “From September 1, 2025, we will increase this payment to 2,000 hryvnias ‘net’ for each teacher.” In other words, be full on promises.

One could engage in arithmetic, calculate the percentage of the “increase” in teachers' salaries, and compare it with the leap in officials' salaries. But let us not forget that the country is currently facing the most severe external aggression in its history. Every penny counts.

However, a reasonable question arises: how ethical is it to so hastily increase the salaries of officials in a time of war? Especially considering that the war is far from over, the economy is in crisis, and many Ukrainians are on the brink of survival, struggling with rising prices for goods and services. Under such conditions, the clearly inadequate increase in salaries for public servants may be perceived as social injustice. Moreover, it could be seen as mockery of the people.

Looking at it from this perspective, the situation extends well beyond the bounds of decency. Let’s take a look at various ministries. For instance, according to the Ministry of Finance, employees of the Antimonopoly Committee earn an average of 118,700 hryvnias. There are over 260 people working in the committee. The salaries of the leadership are among the highest – 215,000 hryvnias per month. And for what, may I ask? What exactly are the clerks in this agency doing for victory that warrants paying them better than the fighters on the front lines?

Or take the Ministry of Justice, which recently allowed a breach of state registries. There, officials earn an average of 100,500 hryvnias. The ministry has 997 employees. In some more economically prosperous countries, the entire government employs not many more people. This example clearly demonstrates that the government apparatus in Ukraine is incredibly bloated. In times of war, this is tantamount to sabotage.

However, the pinnacle of salary absurdity is the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, whose workload has sharply decreased during the state of war. Almost two and a half hundred of its employees earn an average of 97,200 hryvnias. Meanwhile, 18 senior officials in the agency have an average salary of 310,000 hryvnias per month. Is it still not clear to anyone that this is an absolutely unreasonable waste of budgetary funds during a war when conducting elections is impossible? I would even say that it is not only unreasonable but also brazenly disrespectful towards Ukrainian society.

Here, the famous saying of the "Iron Lady," Margaret Thatcher, comes to mind: there is no such thing as government money; there is only taxpayers' money. The problem is that Ukraine is currently surviving not only on the labor of its citizens but primarily due to foreign aid. It is good that the civilized world has not turned its back on Ukraine in this difficult war time. It is bad that, receiving billion after billion from Western partners, the Ukrainian ruling elite seems to have imagined itself as economic geniuses and allows itself to treat both its own and others' money carelessly.

One should not think that information about strange wartime phenomena in Ukraine, including the bureaucratic salary frenzy, does not reach the eyes, ears, and feelings of citizens in Western countries. It is no coincidence, for instance, that the well-known billionaire Elon Musk recently criticized the new American military aid package for Ukraine, simultaneously calling President Zelensky a "champion of robbery." "The champion of all time. Zelensky has committed one of the greatest financial robberies (of the United States, – ed.) of all time," Musk wrote on social media X. Of course, we take into account the eccentricity of the world's richest man and his uncritical perception of Kremlin propaganda. But in this case, the focus of attention should not be on that. After all, I do not think that the American meant any specific facts about embezzlement by Volodymyr Oleksandrovych himself. Most likely, it was an emotional reaction from Musk to information about the not-so-wise spending of international financial aid by the Ukrainian government. And the issue here, of course, is not only about salaries – few high-ranking officials in Ukraine live on their official salary alone.

It seems that Musk, perhaps unwittingly, has played the role of a "litmus test" in this case. Gradually, public opinion in several Western countries is beginning to cool regarding the issue of aid to Ukraine. For now, this is not very noticeable. For the time being, everything seems quite tolerable. But the end of the war is still not in sight. According to former commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhiy Naiev, as cited by the Telegram channel "Battalion Monaco," Putin's Russia has enough resources to continue the war in Ukraine for 8-10 years. This does not mean that the war will necessarily last that long. But there are no signs of a swift peace either. Therefore, Ukrainian society and, above all, the Ukrainian government must do everything possible to ensure that taxpayers in Western countries do not tire of the task of providing aid to Ukraine. After all, everyone has their own concerns to deal with.

However, it seems that the Ukrainian government is not concerned about public opinion in Western countries; otherwise, it would not so cavalierly squander the meager state budget. Well, then let it at least care about public opinion in its own country. In such a complicated situation, when Ukraine is experiencing not only external aggression but also a deep internal economic crisis, it is extremely important to maintain societal unity. The war unites the country around the idea of victory; however, social inequality, which is becoming increasingly evident against the backdrop of significant income disparities, can seriously undermine this internal union. It is already undermining, as evidenced, for example, by tens of thousands of attempts to evade mobilization to defend the homeland, and by hundreds of ways to inflate procurement prices for what the Armed Forces of Ukraine need. Not to mention the banal thefts during various repair and construction works in the rear.

And, of course, when public servants, especially those whose functions are limited due to the state of war, receive salaries multiple times higher than compatriots who face the hardships of war daily, it creates a sense of injustice and alienation. Under such conditions, citizens' ability to feel part of a common national idea – the idea of victory over the hated external enemy – is subjected to artificial erosion.

Forgive me, Ukrainian patriots, but it sometimes seems to me that the current ruling elite of Ukraine, through its clearly questionable decisions, is intentionally driving a wedge between different layers of the population as well as between the government and the people. Perhaps I am mistaken, but in such moments, I want to shout towards the Office of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine: "What are you doing, gentlemen? You are playing into the hands of the aggressor! Wake up before it is too late!".