The Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading the new draft law on additional payments to the military

In the first reading, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) supported the draft law on additional payments to the military. Also, it gave only seven days to submit amendments.

The MP from "Voice" Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported this.

333 MPs voted for the draft law in the first reading. The MP predicts that the document will be finally adopted in June.

"Why as a basis? Well, because in fact there were remarks that the payments to the military themselves are not returned. And there are also discussions about establishing the level of payments," Zheleznyak noted.

The document stipulates that during martial law, Ukrainian military personnel receive additional payments from 30 000 to 100 000 hryvnias in proportion to the time spent on combat missions.

Conscripts will receive an additional 6 000 hryvnias per month. Also, 6 000 hryvnias will be received by military personnel who were injured or injured in the war and are now under the command of the relevant commander during the period of temporary unfitness for military service.

Cadets of higher military educational institutions will additionally receive 2 350 hryvnias per month.

The draft law also regulates leave for military personnel. It states that during the special period, military personnel are entitled to part of their annual leave of 30 days, as well as to leave for family reasons and for other valid reasons of up to 10 days.

In addition, the document states that those mobilized who do not have military service experience must undergo a course of basic military training for at least a month. Such people will not be allowed to engage in military operations without training.

• From February 1, 2023, Ukraine changed the order of payments to military personnel. They began to depend on the areas of stay, the complexity and specifics of performing combat or special tasks. 100 000 were received by those soldiers who were in the immediate combat zone. 30 000 were received by those who served in a unit included in the Defense Forces or in the reserve of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, were not in the area of hostilities, but were performing combat tasks.
• On April 10, 2023, the MPs supported an amendment to draft law No. 8312, which provides for the return of additional payments of 30 000 hryvnias to all military, police and rescue workers until the end of martial law. It is also planned to limit the salaries of top officials to 10 minimum salaries. However, the amendment does not specify where the money for these payments will come from. The IMF called this draft law "unbalanced" because it does not specify sources of financing.
• At the beginning of May, the leadership of the military and law enforcement agencies wrote a letter to the Verkhovna Rada with a request to postpone the adoption of this draft law. Instead, they are asking to assemble a working group of representatives of the Verkhovna Rada, the government, and the General Staff, and by the end of May, jointly develop a draft law that will regulate the issue of the remuneration of defenders.