“Salary doesn’t match expenses”: many Servant of the People members are exhausted and want to give up their mandates”, says MP

MP Mykola Zadorozhnyi from the Servant of the People party said that many lawmakers feel tired from their work and are thinking about resigning their mandates. A salary of 50,000–60,000 hryvnias (€990–€1,188) does not match the level of responsibility and the expenses borne by Servant of the People MPs.

Zadorozhnyi said this on Radio Liberty on March 17.

The MP links this fatigue in particular to the fact that many members of the Servant of the People faction are not professional politicians: the deputies elected in 2019 came from the “real” sector of the economy and had no prior political experience.

“There is probably a certain fatigue, because, frankly, there aren’t that many professional politicians in the Servant of the People faction, and the people elected to parliament by the Ukrainian people in 2019 are, by and large, a cross-section of society,” the MP explained.

Zadorozhnyi believes there is fatigue among lawmakers now. Because of it, many politicians would have left their job in the Verkhovna Rada. Zadorozhnyi himself also considered resigning his mandate in 2023, but says he managed to overcome it by finding motivation to “do useful things.”

“In my opinion, fatigue exists, it does occur. I don’t think it applies to absolutely everyone, but it does occur. Many would have already left this job for another job,” the MP said.

The second reason lawmakers are tired and considering leaving is financial motivation. Zadorozhnyi уточнив (clarified) that the average salary of MPs is 50,000–60,000 hryvnias. That amount, he said, does not correspond either to the level of responsibility or to the expenses.

“A lot of this is manipulated, in my view. Indeed, the salary, in the opinion of many colleagues, does not correspond to the level of responsibility, the level of needs and possible risks…,” the politician noted.

In response, the journalist reminded the MP about the 200,000 hryvnias in “deputy” payments.

“Yes, around 200,000 in deputy allowances. But the expenses a deputy bears while performing their duties are sometimes even higher, depending on the work being done: trips around the country, accommodation, food…,” Zadorozhnyi explained.

It is worth recalling that on March 13 MP Oleksandr Yurchenko said on Novyny.Live that 60 members of the Verkhovna Rada want to resign their mandates: they are tired and dissatisfied with their pay.