From 1 January 2020 sustenance level in Ukraine has been raised to 2,027 hryvnia (USD 83) per person per month. But is it enough money to live on such amount?

Can a person really survive on $83 per month in Ukraine?

The short answer is, “Not really”.

But because the official sustenance level is linked to many social payments, the government is unable to raise it to the level where it really becomes the amount one can live on for a month. There are simply insufficient funds in the budget to be able to do it. But they do plan to arrive to that point one day. It can happen as soon as the social payments and the sustenance level are no longer linked.

There are plans to increase the sustenance level two times already this year, Finance.ua reported.

• From 1 July 2020 to 2,118 hryvnia per month ($86).
• From 1 December 2020 to 2,189 hryvnia per month ($89).

Yes, the increases aren’t too large, but it’s better than nothing, right?

What is sustenance level?

In Ukraine it is the cost of the necessary basket of goods and services required for a person to survive and function, which includes minimum amounts of food and the necessary things such as transportation.

The basket of goods and services that used for calculations for the purposes of statistics in Ukraine is different to the type used in Europe or USA. The Ukrainian sustenance basket includes much cheaper types of food, less allowance for clothes and transport.

Some services that are part of European and American baskets are not included at all.

Ukrainians are supposed to be able to survive on USD 83 per month. Obviously, living on this amount they are unlikely to be able to afford fresh fruit and vegetables, as the statistical basket contains only the cheapest types of food.

How the sustenance level in Ukraine changed over years?

The amounts below are for the start of each year. Often the amounts are increased more than once during the year. In recent years, increases usually were scheduled in the months of July and December.

• 2014: UAH 1,176 (USD 142)
• 2015: UAH 1,330 ($84)
• 2016: UAH 1,544 ($63)
• 2017: UAH 1,600 ($60)
• 2018: UAH 1,700 ($59)
• 2019: UAH 1,936 ($70)
• 2020: UAH 2,027 ($83)

The historical data on exchange rates between US Dollar and Ukrainian hryvnia have been used to calculate the amounts above. Due to fluctuations in exchange rate, the exact sum in USD would vary slightly depending on the month of the year.

As you can see, the amount in USD was much higher in 2014 and people could purchase more goods and services at the time than today, although the sum in hryvnia is nearly twice as high in 2020.

Ukrainian economy still has a lot of catching up to do from the galloping inflation of 2014-2015, which followed Russia’s takeover of the Crimean peninsula and beginning of an armed conflict in the East of the country (Donetsk and Luhansk regions). This really pushed the country in a deep economic crisis.

Russia, too, suffered the economic impact of sanctions placed by western countries following Russia’s annexing of Crimea. The Russian ruble plummeted, thus wages and salaries lost a lot of value. Still, average salaries in Russia are about twice as high as in Ukraine. Although the official minimum wage is already higher in Ukraine in 2020 than in Russia.

Ukraine has also been placed higher than Russia in 2020 worldwide technology rating by Global Finance.

Read also:

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• How much money do Ukrainians wish to earn?
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• Is life in Ukraine improving?