The Pension Fund of Ukraine has provided official clarifications regarding how citizens' labor activities abroad are accounted for when calculating pensions. According to current legislation, Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 562 dated May 16, 2025, and international agreements, Ukrainians who worked in other countries have the legal right to count this period toward their total insurance experience.
Features of Experience Accounting Under International Agreements
If an official social security agreement exists between Ukraine and the employment country, the inclusion of experience is carried out according to its regulations. Most such treaties are based on the proportional principle: each individual state assigns and pays pension benefits exclusively for the period of service acquired directly on its territory. In certain scenarios, foreign experience can also be used to confirm the right to be assigned a pension benefit in Ukraine.
Impact of Foreign Experience on Benefit Amounts
A key nuance for many citizens is that, as a general rule, experience confirmed abroad only helps fulfill the requirements regarding the number of years needed to retire, but it does not automatically increase the amount of the benefit itself. Without special provisions in international agreements, wages earned abroad are not added to Ukrainian earnings from which the final pension is calculated. For example, if 33 years of service are required to receive a benefit, and a citizen has 25 years of Ukrainian and 8 years of foreign experience, the latter will be credited to meet this threshold, but the calculation of the amount will be based solely on Ukrainian earnings.
Document Verification Procedure and the Role of the PFU
To officially confirm labor activities outside Ukraine, it is necessary to provide a package of documents: certificates from competent authorities of the foreign state, employment contracts, employer statements, and income declarations. Documents may require prior legalization. In the event of missing or incomplete paperwork, territorial bodies of the Pension Fund of Ukraine have the right to independently contact authorized agencies of another country via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, although such a request does not guarantee a positive outcome.
Contradictory Data
Discussions arise in the expert community and law enforcement practice regarding the reliability of interstate requests through diplomatic channels, as response times from agencies in other countries can drag on indefinitely. Furthermore, discrepancies remain in the interpretation of the conditions of the proportional principle for citizens who worked in countries with which Ukraine has no active social protection agreements, creating legal uncertainty when calculating minimum insurance requirements.
