The number of citizens whose income is lower than subsistence level is increasing in Ukraine, which means the nation’s administration fails to fulfill its obligations towards overcoming poverty. This was stated by OPPOSITION PLATFORM – FOR LIFE MP Serhiy Lovochkin commenting on data by the State Statistics Service.

“The State Statistics Service informed that as of end of 2020, 600,000 citizens were earning less than the official subsistence rate, and this is overly concerning for the figure is much higher than a year ago. But the worst thing is that this is only the tip of an iceberg because the real subsistence level, as defined by the Social Policy Ministry, is significantly above the official one. This means there are many more Ukrainians whose incomes are lower than that,” the MP said.

The politician said the official annual average subsistence rate in 2020 was 2,078 hryvnia (approx. $77 per month), while the real one was 3,847 hryvnia.

“So, the data here is totally different: 8.8 million people, or almost a quarter of employable population, were earning less than the real subsistence rate, which itself is not enough to cover minimum human needs. Living with less than 4,000 hryvnia [per month] is not any more real than staying withing the official subsistence rate,” he believes.

“OPPOSITION PLATFORM – FOR LIFE has many times raised the issue of the official subsistence rate matching its name. For that, it must be increased twofold, together with all allowances that are tied to it. We do have the funds in the budget for that, we only must reallocate them according to priorities. The government should not have any higher priority today that the fight against poverty,” Lovochkin believes.