“Ukrainian enterprises are artificially raising salaries for draft exemptions, while employees give part of the money to their bosses”, – Khlan

Some enterprises in Ukraine that have been designated as critical to the economy have artificially inflated employees’ salaries to help them obtain exemptions from military mobilization.

This was reported by Serhiy Khlan, a deputy of the Kherson Regional Council.

According to Khlan, employees receiving fake salary increases return part of the money to their employers, making the reported average salary of over 20,000 UAH (€466) across the country misleading.

“Today, the authorities report that the average salary exceeds 20,000 UAH… and that is true for officials, where salaries reach 40, 60, or even 80 thousand UAH. But let me open your eyes to what’s happening in enterprises with mobilization exemptions: wages are indeed officially set at 20,000 UAH, but after withdrawing their salaries from ATMs, workers return part of the money to their employers—just to meet the required salary criteria for exemption.”

Khlan further noted that while budget revenues have increased, this does not reflect actual income growth for workers, particularly in the private sector, where wages remain stagnant.

“This is being done on a large scale to allow businesses to exempt workers from mobilization. People generally accept it. Some are even willing to pay to secure a job at such an enterprise just to obtain the exemption,” Khlan added.