Tens of billions: what is now with payments from Ukraine for citizens in the occupied territories

Millions of our compatriots remain in temporarily occupied territories. Some of them have come to terms with the current circumstances and received Russian citizenship, while others, on the contrary, remain loyal to Ukraine, despite the difficulties associated with this. At the same time, both of them, or more precisely, some of them, continue to receive payments from the Ukrainian state in the form of pensions and wages.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, about a quarter of Ukraine's territory has been under enemy occupation. At the same time, it is extremely difficult to estimate the number of Ukrainian citizens who remain in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT), at least in those that were captured after February 24, 2022.

Such an assessment is largely complicated by the fact that a significant number of people left their homes even before the occupation and became internally displaced persons (IDPs) in other regions of Ukraine, as well as refugees in various countries of the world, mainly in Europe. This process continued after the Russians captured these territories and has not stopped to this day. At the same time, many people moved to Russia (although some of them did this in order to later move to one of the European countries).

Russia carries out so-called passportization in the territories it occupies. According to Russian authorities, as of February 2024, they have issued more than 2 million Russian passports there. At the same time, it is important to remember that those who, having received Russian citizenship, retained Ukrainian citizenship, are considered Ukrainian citizens by default for Ukraine.

Thus, despite the fact that it is not possible to say for sure how many of our fellow citizens remain on the BOT, we can assume that we are talking about several million people.

Pensions in law

A significant part of those who remain in the occupied territories today are pensioners. But how many of them there are, again, it is impossible to say with certainty. A year ago, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine informed that it did not have data on the number of pensioners at VOT. It is very doubtful that the ministry acquired such data during this time.

“Apostrophe,” in turn, decided to find out whether Ukrainian pensioners living in BOT receive Ukrainian pensions (Russian ones are available to them if they have a Russian passport), and addressed the corresponding question to the Pension Fund of Ukraine. Unfortunately, the PFU has not yet responded to our publication’s request, despite the fact that the time allotted for such a response has expired.

At the same time, according to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of April 16, 2022 (No. 457), “for persons who live in settlements that are under temporary occupation..., the calculation and payment of all appropriate social payments (pensions, social assistance, benefits and subsidies, etc.) continue in full.” As far as we know, this resolution has not been canceled to date, which means that pensions for this category of citizens are paid as before (payments are confirmed by pensioners living at BOT).

However, as noted above, it is unknown how many pensioners are currently in the occupied territories. The same goes for how much the state of Ukraine pays to pensioners on VOT, many of whom today have probably already become citizens of the Russian Federation.

Without official information, Apostrophe nevertheless decided to estimate the corresponding expenses of the Ukrainian state. Obviously, such estimates are only approximate, although they certainly give an idea of ​​​​the order of the numbers.

Let’s assume that there are approximately a million pensioners remaining in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. According to statistics, in 2024 the average Ukrainian pension is 5,385 hryvnia per month. However, more than half of all pensioners receive a pension of 4,000 hryvnia or less, so we will use this amount for our calculations. Through simple arithmetic, we find that in 2024, 48 billion hryvnia should be allocated for the payment of pensions of those who live in BOT (for convenience, we will round up to 50 billion).

If we count from the beginning of the great war to the present day, then more than 120 billion hryvnia should have been allocated to pay pensions to pensioners living in the occupied territories.

Salaries are in question

It is more difficult with those who remain in the temporarily occupied territory and continue to work there. First, many of these people are either self-employed or work in private enterprises, and it is likely that they were forced to re-register under Russian law.

In addition, there are government agencies whose employees receive salaries from the Russian authorities (and in relation to which, after de-occupation, criminal proceedings on collaboration will most likely be opened). However, obviously there are some of our citizens who still receive salaries from the Ukrainian state. That is why “Apostrophe” made a request to the Ministry of Social Policy, asking how many people living in the BOT receive salaries from Ukraine, and how much is spent on this monthly.

The Ministry of Social Policy forwarded this question to the Ministry of Economy (as reported by the publication). In turn, the Ministry of Economy was unable to give a specific answer to it.

“The Ministry of Economy, within the limits of its authority, informs that it does not maintain statistical observations and registers on wage payments to employees in the territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation,” the department’s official response to our request says.

At the same time, the Ministry of Economy referred to the law of March 15, 2022 “On the organization of labor relations under martial law,” which, in particular, provides for the possibility of suspending an employment contract during martial law if the parties to the labor relationship cannot fulfill the conditions of the relevant agreement.

In addition, the Ministry of Economy noted that according to the law, “the basis for termination of an employment contract is the employee’s absence from work and information about the reasons for such absence for more than four months in a row.”

Another reason for dismissal for an employer is “the impossibility of providing an employee with the work specified in the employment contract due to the destruction (lack of) production, organizational and technical conditions, means of production or property of the employer as a result of hostilities.”

All this indirectly indicates that the state has every reason to sever or at least suspend labor relations with many workers who remained in the temporarily occupied territories and, accordingly, not pay them wages.

Zaporozhye dilemma

However, there is at least one company in Ukraine that continues to pay wages to its employees located at BOT. We are talking about the state company NAEK Energoatom and employees of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

Before the occupation, about 11 thousand people worked at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, but after it began, their number was almost halved - to 6 thousand. A year ago, the head of Energoatom, Petr Kotin, said that approximately half, that is, about 3,000 plant employees, signed contracts with Rosatom, and therefore Ukraine stopped paying them salaries.

The same ZNPP employees who did not betray the country, according to Energoatom, continue to receive money from it - at the level of two-thirds of their salary or one official salary (remember, the plant is currently idle).

“Apostrophe” sent requests to the Ministry of Energy and “Energoatom”, in which they asked to inform how many ZNPP employees continue to receive salaries and in what amount.

In response to our request, the Ministry of Energy reported that NNEGC Energoatom “does not provide the Ministry with financial statements and information regarding labor indicators in the context of nuclear power plants,” and therefore “the Ministry of Energy does not have information on wage payments to employees of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.”

As for Energoatom, the editor never received a response from it.

Thus, how many ZNPP employees currently receive Ukrainian salaries is unknown.

However, at the end of May, Energoatom announced that it intends to stop paying salaries to those station employees who do not agree to employment in other structural divisions of the company. This is due to the fact that ZNPP being idle for too long has a negative impact on the qualifications of personnel.

“In case of refusal to fill vacant positions in the company, NAEC will be forced to review the terms of employment of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant workers who are in forced downtime and consider the issue of temporary suspension of employment contracts,” Energoatom said in a statement.

It is still difficult to say when exactly the employees of the Zaporozhye NPP will stop receiving salaries from Ukraine. However, according to the most conservative estimates, from the beginning of the occupation of the station until today, the total amount of payments for its personnel could amount to 2-3 billion hryvnia.

Thus, Ukraine, which, being in an extremely difficult financial situation, allocates half of its budget to defense against the aggressor, continues to spend tens of billions of hryvnia annually on payments to citizens who, for one reason or another, remain in the territories occupied by Russia.