Ukrainian government has recently implemented a pension reform, which changed the requirements for the number of years of work. But if a person didn’t work long enough to be eligible for a pension, they can now purchase the required “years of work” to get the benefits.

How to buy pension in Ukraine?

People in Ukraine pay compulsory contributions to the government pension fund, which are used to pay retirement benefits to current retirees.

Because of the recent reform, most people who turn 60 (age when a person can retire in Ukraine) won’t be eligible for a pension because they haven’t worked enough years, as per new regulations. In fact, nearly half of Ukrainians won’t be able to retire at 60, Finance.ua reported.

About 45% of people who are due to retire soon will have to work until the age of 63 or even 65, to acquire sufficient number of years of work, to get retirement payouts from the government.

But there is a solution for those who can afford it.

The Ukrainian law allows pensioners-to-be to “purchase” extra years of work, to get the benefits immediately.

There are two ways to do it:

1. Sign a contract with the Pension Fund to purchase required years. The calculation is done this way: Minimum wage times 2, multiplied by 22%. As of today, it’s 2,078 hryvnia per month of time. Each 1 year would cost 24,900 hryvnia. This could suit people who reach the age when they could get pension, but they don’t have enough years of work. However, the amount will increase once the minimum wage is lifted, and the Ukrainian government plans to keep raising it.
2. To people who are looking ahead and know that they won’t have enough years of work experience to be eligible for a pension once they reach the age of retirement, there is another way to contribute. They are able to pay extra every month. At the moment, it’s 1,039 hryvnia (half of what it would cost if the number of years is purchased in bulk). This option would suit people who work without an official contact and get paid cash, for instance.

How long a person had to work to get a pension?

The number of years required to get a pension once a person reached the age of 60 will be changing.

• Right now a person can retire at 60 if they worked for 27 years.
• In 8 years, a person would have to have worked for 35 years to get a pension from the government.

The Ukrainian law allows pensioners-to-be to “purchase” extra years of work.

Can a person can extra money if they worked for longer than the required number of years?

If a person worked more than the required number of years when reaching 60, they are able to get extra money on top for that.

Each extra year of work at the time of retirement allows for 1% increase to the monthly payout. However, the total amount added cannot be more than 1% of the size of minimum pension, Finance.ua reported.

A person can choose to opt out of applying for the pension immediately, even if they have accumulated the required number of years of work when they have reached the age of retirement, and continue working and contributing to the pension fund. In this case, the government offers pension increases, which are calculated at the moment when a citizen applies for pension.

• If a person delays retirement for up to 60 months, they will get extra 0.5% on top of the pension amount due, for each full month they worked after the age of retirement.
• If a person delays retirement for longer than 60 months, they will get extra 0.75% on top of the pension amount due, for each full month they worked after the age of retirement.

During the times of the USSR and until recently, the age of retirement in Ukraine was 55 years for women and 60 years for men.

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