President: It will be fair to link the salaries of government officials to the average wage in the country

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy endorsed the Government’s decision to limit the salaries and bonuses of the heads of executive bodies.

During a meeting at the Office of the President involving the representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada, Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk informed the Head of State that pursuant to the President’s task, the Government had made a decision to regulate the issue of salaries paid to the heads of ministries.

“We have agreed that the salary of the minister, deputy minister, and other senior officials will be linked to the average salary in the country. The salaries of ministers and their deputies will be in the range of three to five average salaries. And it is necessary to stop paying 200-400% bonuses – the maximum bonus will not exceed one salary,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Also, according to him, all information about the salaries of the leadership of the Cabinet of Ministers will be published on a monthly basis.

“It seems to me very fair that you link the salary to the average wage across the country. If it increases, it will increase for everyone, if it decreases, senior officials will also earn less,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The Prime Minister also informed the President that the government had decided to apply to the supervisory board of Naftogaz of Ukraine to refrain from paying big bonuses to the management of this company and consider their reduction. “We are now conducting the necessary consultations with the supervisory board and expect to find a solution in the coming weeks,” Oleksiy Honcharuk emphasized.

In addition, he said, the work of the government over the last 5 months was analyzed and personnel decisions were made. In particular, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Denys Shmygal to the post of Vice Prime Minister – Minister for Communities and Territories Development.

Also, pursuant to the commission of the President of Ukraine, a decision was made to create a Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories.

“This will allow us to work much more effectively on the issues of reintegration of Donbas and work with people who remained in the occupied territories or moved to the controlled territories becoming temporarily displaced persons,” the Prime Minister said.

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Ukraine Volodymyr Borodyansky, for his part, noted that work was underway to launch a Ukrainian TV channel broadcasting in the occupied territories.

The possibility of strengthening the direction of sport in the said ministry is also being explored, in particular through the creation of an appropriate agency.

In addition, the government plans to strengthen the agricultural unit – consultations on this issue are in process.

Oleksiy Honcharuk spoke about measures to strengthen cooperation between the Government and the Verkhovna Rada, the necessity of which was also emphasized by the President during a preceding meeting with the Prime Minister.

“We have agreed to hold a strategic session with the government and the heads of parliamentary committees in the near future to substantively discuss the country’s strategy. The ministers will also present what has been done in 5 months and what is planned for the next year to the relevant parliamentary committees this week,” Oleksiy Honcharuk said.

He also said that the Government had prepared a report on its work and was ready to submit it to the Parliament.