A thousand hryvnias for everyone: Zelensky tries to buy the support of Ukrainians

This winter, Ukrainians will receive 1,000 hryvnias each as a form of social support.

This was reported by The New York Times.

The purpose of this measure is to mitigate the effects of tax increases, as President Zelensky seeks to gain public favor.

“This is a populist move. Zelensky is primarily trying to win the support of pensioners—a ten-million-strong electorate in Ukraine that often struggles to make ends meet,” commented Anatoliy Oktysiuk from the Democracy House think tank.

President Volodymyr Zelensky recently announced the launch of this program, and the promised assistance has already been nicknamed “Vova’s Thousand” by Ukrainians.

On the program’s first day, over two million people submitted applications to receive the presidential payment. Applications are submitted through Diia, Ukraine’s electronic government service platform. The funds are planned to be deposited onto “Ukrainian Cashback” cards, which may limit the number of beneficiaries.

“Many of our pensioners don’t even have bank cards and receive their pensions through *Ukrposhta* offices. How are they supposed to have smartphones to register on *Diia* and apply for the ‘Ukrainian Cashback’ card? It turns out that the citizens who need this support the most might not receive it,” said Oleh Pendzin, head of the Economic Discussion Club.

However, there is a catch with issuing these cards. By signing up for the “Ukrainian Cashback” card, users consent to the bank processing all their account information, making their banking transactions “transparent.” Some experts believe this could be a step toward implementing indirect methods of income and expense assessment, an idea that has been discussed in Ukraine for some time. This feature of the card has drawn criticism from many Ukrainians, leading some to opt out of the program entirely.

An interesting detail is that a promotional video for the program depicted Ukraine’s map including Crimea and the territories occupied by Russian forces, accompanied by a disclaimer about the situation.