The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is drafting a bill that would guarantee pensioners an inviolable minimum when debts are forcibly collected. This was stated by People's Deputy Olena Vasilevska-Smaglyuk in her Telegram channel, as reported by RBC-Ukraine. According to her, the government is strengthening the protection of human rights during the enforcement of court decisions and, in particular, is proposing to change the rules for deducting funds from pensions.
What the Cabinet of Ministers is proposing
The essence of the initiative is that, after all deductions, a pensioner must be left with at least the subsistence minimum for persons who have lost their ability to work. At the time of the deputy's statement, this amount stood at 2,595 hryvnia per month. Thus, the state intends to establish a "floor" below which a pension cannot fall under the pressure of enforcement proceedings.
How the current deduction system works
Today, the law sets a maximum size for deductions from a pension — cap rates of 50% or 20%, depending on the basis for collection. However, as Vasilevska-Smaglyuk emphasizes, the current version of the law contains no separate guarantee specifying what minimum amount must remain with a person after such deductions. It is precisely this gap that the new bill is meant to close.
Two new conditions in the bill
According to the deputy, the document adds two important conditions. First: deductions may be made only if the pension exceeds the subsistence minimum for non-working persons established by law. Second: even if collection is permissible, the pensioner may not be left with less than the subsistence minimum after the deduction. The 50% or 20% rates set by law remain the cap on collection, but if applying such a percentage would bring the payment below the subsistence minimum, the full amount cannot be withheld.
The debt does not disappear
Vasilevska-Smaglyuk clarified that the bill does not exempt pensioners from fulfilling court decisions. It merely establishes a limit below which a pension may not be reduced during forced collection. The debt itself is preserved and does not disappear anywhere — only the mechanism and the cap on withholding from pension payments change.
Context: borrowing and pension payments
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that, according to Vasilevska-Smaglyuk's assessment, Ukraine will need trillion-level borrowing in 2027–2029 to cover budget needs. In the same context, it was noted that Ukrainians who lack the required insurance record for an old-age pension can count on a separate monthly state payment, while certain categories of workers are entitled to retire significantly earlier — already at age 50.
