“Two dresses in seven years”: Members of the Verkhovna Rada acknowledge the need to raise the minimum living standard, but there is no money

According to official standards, a teenager in Ukraine is entitled to one winter coat every three years and one mid-season jacket every three years. An adult woman is allowed two dresses or suits every seven years.

This was revealed by Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the Finance Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, during a discussion about Ukraine’s subsistence minimum standards.

He noted that the official subsistence minimum in the state budget is about 2,900 hryvnias (roughly $70–80), calling it an “abstract category”, as it is impossible to survive on that amount.

“Even the actual subsistence minimum, which is 3.5 times higher, is not enough to live on. It’s something out of a bureaucrat’s imagination,” Hetmantsev remarked.

At the same time, he stressed that the government is aware of the need to raise the subsistence minimum, but: “we understand that there is simply no money for that.”