Not everyone will receive Chernobyl pension: tougher verification of payments in Ukraine.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has strengthened the verification of 'Chernobyl pensions' payments.

According to a message in the Judicial-Legal Newspaper, the Cabinet of Ministers supported the proposal to intensify verification of pensioners who receive 'Chernobyl pensions'.

According to proposals for the 2025 budget, only those who actually lived in the alienation zone from 1986 to 1993 will be able to receive a special pension for those affected by the Chernobyl disaster.

These changes were developed by the budget committee of the Verkhovna Rada and included by the Cabinet of Ministers in the draft law on the State Budget No. 12000 for 2025. The head of the Verkhovna Rada's budget committee, Roxolana Podlasa stated that payments of 'Chernobyl pensions' to new residents of the alienation zone could amount to approximately 15 billion hryvnias.

In a new version of Article 45 of the draft law on the budget for 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers proposes to limit payments to those pensioners who actually lived or worked in the resettlement zone from April 26, 1986 to January 1, 1993. The additional payment for such pensioners will amount to 2361 hryvnias.

In addition, the draft law provides that pensioners who changed their place of residence outside the resettlement zone after the accident at the Chernobyl NPP or returned later will not receive this additional payment.

Therefore, for control over payments, the Pension Fund must verify the data on the place of residence of pensioners in the Unified State Demographic Register and other databases.

In addition, according to the budget project, the government plans to implement a pension reform from July 1, 2025 and develop a new approach to recalculating pensions under 'special' laws, establishing uniform conditions for pension indexation regardless of income.

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