The government wants to have more control over beneficiaries who receive funds to pay for utilities

21 January 14:07

The Cabinet of Ministers has registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine the Draft Law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Providing Benefits for Housing and Utility Services” No. 12427. This is reported on the parliament’s website, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

As explained by the government’s representative in the parliament, Taras Melnychuk, the draft law should improve the mechanism for granting benefits for housing and communal services in terms of establishing control over their intended use, namely the allocation of state budget funds to pay for housing and communal services.

The Draft Law proposes to amend the laws of Ukraine that provide for the granting of housing and utility benefits to citizens and, in particular, to determine that privileged categories of citizens are obliged to use the funds of the paid benefits to pay for the consumed housing and utility services on a monthly basis.

What benefits are provided by the state for the payment of utility bills?

The Pension Fund reminds that the following benefits are provided:

– use of housing (rent, payment for services for the maintenance of buildings and structures and adjacent territories)

– management of an apartment building, utilities (centralized supply of cold water, centralized supply of hot water, drainage, heat and electricity, natural gas (including transportation, distribution and supply services), centralized heating, and household waste disposal);

– use of solid household fuel, liquefied gas.

The Pension Fund also reminded that the procedure for granting benefits to certain categories of citizens, taking into account the average monthly total family income, was approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 389 dated June 4, 2015.

In 2025, the list of recipients of housing and utility benefits will be expanded

According to the Pension Fund, in 2025, benefits will also be provided to

– rehabilitated persons who became persons with disabilities as a result of repressions or are pensioners;

– persons affected by the Chornobyl disaster, classified in categories 1 and 2;

– wives (husbands), guardians of children of deceased citizens whose death is related to the Chornobyl disaster;

– wives (husbands), if they did not remarry, of deceased citizens whose death was related to participation in the liquidation of other nuclear accidents, nuclear tests, military exercises involving nuclear weapons, assembly of nuclear charges and routine maintenance;

– persons discharged from military service who became persons with disabilities during military service;

– parents and family members of servicemen who died or went missing during military service;

– veterans of military service, internal affairs agencies, the National Police, the Tax Police, the Bureau of Economic Security, the State Fire Service, the State Criminal Executive Service, the Civil Defense Service, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection;

– widows (widowers) of deceased veterans of military service, internal affairs bodies, the National Police, tax police, the Bureau of Economic Security, the State Fire Protection Service, the State Criminal Executive Service, the Civil Protection Service, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection;

– former minor prisoners of concentration camps, ghettos, and other places of forced detention created by Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II, as well as children born in these places of forced detention of their parents;

– former juvenile prisoners of concentration camps, ghettos and other places of forced detention recognized as persons with disabilities due to general illness, labor injury and other reasons;

– deported persons who have reached retirement age or are persons with disabilities.

The Pension Fund reminded that the benefits will be granted if the average monthly total family income per person for the previous six months does not exceed the amount of income that gives the right to a tax social benefit – UAH 4,240.

Василевич Сергій
Editor