Ukraine boosts minimum wage and pensions amidst economic rebound

Ukraine is raising the minimum wage. From 1 April, it will be 8,000 hryvnias, which is approximately £175. Additionally, pension benefits will see an increase.

"From 1 April, the minimum wage will increase. Currently, it is 7,100 hryvnias. It will be 8,000 hryvnias," said Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, following a government meeting, as reported by the Ukrinform agency.

The head of the government in Kyiv also mentioned that the amount of pension to be paid would increase to 5,700 hryvnias (about £115).

- In total, pensions worth 62 billion hryvnias were paid out in March. The increase occurred as we promised," added the head of the government.

Meanwhile, in Poland, from 1 January, the minimum salary stands at 4,242 PLN gross, and from 1 July, it will increase to 4,300 PLN gross. The minimum hourly rate for civil law contracts is 27.70 PLN gross, and from 1 July, it will be 28.10 PLN gross.

As we reported on money.pl, the war significantly impacted the Ukrainian economy. In 2022, Ukraine's GDP fell by 29.1% according to estimates by the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy and even by 35% according to the International Monetary Fund, forcing the Ukrainian economy into a wartime mode.

Dominik Kopecki from the World Economy team at the Polish Economic Institute highlighted that "the costs stemming from the aggression have been shouldered by Ukraine since 2014 when Russia started the occupation and then annexation of Crimea and parts of the territory in the east of Ukraine." - The total losses of Ukraine resulting from the lost economic potential in 2014-2022 are estimated at almost £596 billion. - estimated the expert.

According to the worldometers.info service, Ukraine was ranked 58th in the world in terms of nominal GDP (data for 2022) just behind Hungary and ahead of Morocco and Ethiopia. Poland was ranked 21st, preceding Argentina and Sweden.

However, the situation in Kyiv showed improvement in 2023, as noted by Bloomberg. The fourth quarter of 2023 marked the third consecutive quarter of GDP growth for our neighbour. For the entirety of 2023, Ukraine's GDP surged by 5.3%.