During the winter minuses and the current energy crisis, special attention should be paid to the elderly, and this is especially true as for the pensioners in Ukraine, from whose troublesome situation our politicians do not seem to try too hard to find a way out.
As it appears from the latest report of the UN, Ukraine is one of the leading countries in terms of the rate of population decline. According to the forecasts of the world organization, by 2050 the population of Ukraine will decrease to 35 million. (in 2020 IT was about 43.7 million.) Unfortunately, the report continues with such negative statistics, showing that the population of Ukraine is one of those who are aging faster in Europe. Nowadays, more than one fifth of the population is over 60. Based on current estimates, it means approx. 8.74 million citizens, which puts a huge burden on the healthcare system.
From the state’s point of view, all this is evident in the rising costs of healthcare and pensions, and from the point of view of pensioners who are unable to pay the costs of necessary treatments and in the high mortality rate.
Namely, this certain indicator, i.e. the high mortality rate is one of the main reasons leading to a rapid fall in population. Another reason for such indicators is the low birth rate (in 2020 it amounted to approx. 473.000 new-borns), and, unfortunately, we should mention the constantly increasing level of migration, too. The number of citizens officially leaving Ukraine in 2020 was over 37.700.
As for the minimum of subsistence in Ukraine, the amount of this social payment from 1 Dec 2021 is 2393 UAH (EUR 78). And what gives great importance to the amount of the subsistence minimum is the fact that many social benefits, including pensions, depend on it. Let me remind you that the minimum pension from 1 Dec grew up to UAH 2.600 (EUR 84).
Ukrainian pensioners who on the average have to live on UAH 3.866 (EUR 126) per month can no longer cope with the increase of the gas prices, heating costs, and the constant increase of the food prices. They do not have any emergency reserves. And to all this we should add the pandemic. Majority of the population of Ukraine who are over 60, and who faces the biggest risks of affection, have not been vaccinated against coronavirus.
No one seems to help them out with paying their bills, because it clearly does not serve the interests of the authorities. The government is not in a hurry to allocate additional funds for the pensioners from the budget. Informing the older ones about the need for vaccination is insufficient. The increasing number and high morbidity of pensioners greatly increase the stress on the healthcare system, which is already extremely overburdened due to the COVID, and these two phenomena even put the system on the edge of a breakdown. And the government, fully aware of all this, is still not ready to help them.
So, I have a question for President Zelensky, envisioning coup d’etat at nights, Prime Minister Shmyhal, traveling all over the world and all our politicians who are very busy with all sorts of state affairs: your parents, grandfathers and grandmothers, do not have from necessity to survive on 3866 UAH (EUR 126), do they? In your opinion, how the hell, in the winter of 2021–2022, an ordinary Ukrainian pensioner, who must save every penny of his or her monthly pension, should avoid the choice between feeding OR heating? You probably know better than anyone else that such a choice will be fatal anyway.
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