In Ukraine, the time frame for payments to families of soldiers killed at the front has doubled

The payment terms in Ukraine for relatives of those killed at the front have been stretched out twice as long – while the total sum remains the same.

This follows from a statement by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, published on the agency’s social media pages.

Thus, starting September 1, 15 million hryvnias (311,000 euros) will be paid not over a little more than three years (40 months), but over more than six and a half years (80 months).

“The payment of 1/5 of the total amount (3 million hryvnias) will be made immediately. The payment of 4/5 of the aid amount (12 million hryvnias) will be carried out in stages over 80 months according to a fixed schedule,” the Ministry of Defense stated.

According to the agency, this “strengthens the planning and stability of the support system” and “ensures long-term financial support for families.”

However, another motive for the innovation is also obvious – to reduce state budget expenditures by postponing part of the large payments into the distant future (and six and a half years, by current standards, is a very distant future).

It should be recalled that by the end of the year, Ukraine’s budget is short 300 billion hryvnias for military expenses. In this article, payments for the fallen occupy a significant share.

It should also be noted that in recent months Russia has returned several thousand bodies of the dead to Ukraine – by some estimates, more than 6,000 (although Ukrainian authorities stated that not all of the transferred bodies are those of fallen AFU fighters).

At that time, we analyzed that this would become a serious blow to the Ukrainian budget in terms of the need to increase expenditures for payments to families of the dead.

And shortly thereafter came the Ministry of Defense’s decision to extend the payout period of the 15 million hryvnias.