The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a draft law that mandates the allocation of received subsidies and benefits exclusively for the payment of housing and utility services. This innovation aims to enhance control over the targeted use of state support and reduce the growth of debt among beneficiaries.
This is reported by Finway
New rules for recipients of state support
The draft law, developed by the Ministry of Social Policy, aims to improve the mechanism for providing benefits for utility payments. Annually, over 40 billion UAH is allocated from the state budget for these needs: in 2025, 22 billion UAH for subsidies and 19 billion UAH for benefits. These funds are provided to citizens in cash form, but until now, there has been no clear requirement to use them directly for the payment of housing and utility services.
“The purpose of adopting this act is to improve the mechanism for providing benefits for the payment of housing and utility services in terms of establishing control over their targeted use, namely the allocation of state budget funds for the payment of housing and utility services.”
Debt is rising: the government responds
According to government information, even with significant funding, the debt for utility services among recipients of benefits and subsidies continues to increase. As of February 1, 2025, the total debt amount of citizens who applied for benefits reached 817.4 million UAH. In particular, after August 1, 2024, 87.1 thousand individuals approached the Pension Fund, confirming a debt of 250 million UAH.
The government draft law proposes amendments to the Civil Protection Code and 18 other relevant laws, including “On Housing and Utility Services,” “On the Rehabilitation of Victims of Repression by the Communist Totalitarian Regime from 1917 to 1991,” “On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chernobyl Catastrophe,” “On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Their Families,” and others.
All these laws are planned to be supplemented with a provision that requires beneficiaries to spend state assistance monthly on the payment of housing and utility services. In case of non-compliance with this requirement, further provision of benefits will be regulated by the Cabinet of Ministers.