The Pension Fund of Ukraine calculated a military pension of 31.8 thousand UAH, but determined only 27 thousand for payment — the court assessed the legality of such actions

The Zhytomyr District Administrative Court reviewed a dispute filed by a pensioner receiving a length-of-service pension under the Law of Ukraine No. 2262-XII "On pension provision for persons released from military service and some other persons" against the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in Zhytomyr Region.

The subject of the dispute was the legality of the Pension Fund's reduction of the main pension amount from 90% to 70% of the monetary allowance during its recalculation, the application of reducing coefficients to the pension payment as provided by Article 46 of the Law "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025" and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1 dated January 3, 2025, as well as the payment of the pension with a maximum amount limitation.

Essence of case No. 240/20744/25

The plaintiff is registered with the Pension Fund authorities and receives a length-of-service pension, which was assigned at 90% of the respective monetary allowance amounts. After recalculating the pension, the Pension Fund applied a main pension amount at the level of 70% of the monetary allowance. Additionally, from 2025, reducing coefficients were applied to the pension payment in accordance with Article 46 of the Law "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025" and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1. Simultaneously, the pension payment was made considering the maximum pension amount.

Case materials established that the total pension amount of the plaintiff, including indexation, supplements, and increases, was 31,815.49 UAH. At the same time, reducing coefficients were applied to parts of the pension exceeding ten and eleven subsistence minimums for persons who lost working capacity. As a result, instead of the accrued 31,815.49 UAH, the amount determined for payment was 27,016.05 UAH.

After applying to the Pension Fund with a request for pension payment without applying reducing coefficients and without limiting the maximum amount, the plaintiff received a refusal. The Pension Fund referred to Article 46 of the Law on the State Budget for 2025 and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1, which introduced a special procedure for paying certain categories of pensions during martial law. Disagreeing with this position, the pensioner appealed to the administrative court.

Court conclusions

The court noted that pension provision for persons released from military service is regulated by the special Law No. 2262-XII. According to Article 1-1 of this Law, changes to the conditions and norms of pension provision for such persons are made exclusively by amending Law No. 2262-XII itself and the Law of Ukraine "On Compulsory State Pension Insurance."

The court drew attention to the fact that the provisions of part seven of Article 43 of Law No. 2262-XII regarding the limitation of pensions by the maximum amount were declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine's decision dated December 20, 2016, No. 7-rp/2016 and lost effect from the date of that decision. Furthermore, by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine's decision dated October 12, 2022, No. 7-r(II)/2022, the provisions of Article 2 of Law No. 3668-VI, which extended the maximum pension amount limitation to persons whose pension provision is carried out under Law No. 2262-XII, were declared unconstitutional. These provisions lost effect in April 2023.

In the court's opinion, after the loss of effect of these norms, there are no legal grounds for limiting pensions assigned under Law No. 2262-XII by the maximum amount. The court also emphasized that current legislation does not contain norms defining a maximum limitation for pensions assigned under this Law.

Assessing the application of Article 46 of the Law "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025" and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1, the court noted that they effectively established additional regulation of relations in the field of pension provision for persons released from military service. Such regulation differs from that provided by the special Law No. 2262-XII and is inconsistent with its provisions. At the same time, the legislator did not introduce amendments to Law No. 2262-XII regarding the application of reducing coefficients or pension limitations during the disputed period.

The court stressed that the Constitution of Ukraine does not grant the Law on the State Budget a higher legal force compared to other laws. Referring to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine's decision dated July 9, 2007, No. 6-rp/2007, the court stated that the Law on the State Budget cannot change or narrow rights, benefits, guarantees, and compensations established by other laws.

Moreover, the court considered the legal position of the Supreme Court, expressed in the ruling dated September 11, 2025, in case No. 120/1081/25, according to which the application of Article 46 of the Law "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025" and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1 during the calculation and recalculation of pensions assigned under Law No. 2262-XII is unlawful and restricts the constitutionally guaranteed right to proper social protection.

Regarding the reduction of the main pension amount from 90% to 70% of the monetary allowance, the court noted that amendments to Article 13 of Law No. 2262-XII, which initially reduced the maximum pension percentage to 80% and later to 70%, relate exclusively to the procedure for assigning pensions. In contrast, the recalculation of already assigned pensions is regulated by Article 63 of Law No. 2262-XII, to which no relevant amendments were made. The court emphasized that the procedures for assigning and recalculating pensions differ in their content and legal mechanism. Therefore, during the pension recalculation, the Pension Fund had no legal grounds to change the pension percentage established at assignment from 90% to 70%. This conclusion aligns with the legal position of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, expressed in the landmark case No. 240/5401/18.

As a result of the case review, the court recognized the actions of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in Zhytomyr Region regarding the reduction of the main pension amount from 90% to 70% of the monetary allowance, the application of coefficients established by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1, and the payment of the pension with a maximum amount limitation as unlawful.

The court obliged the Pension Fund to calculate and pay the pension at 90% of the monetary allowance, without applying reducing coefficients and without limiting the maximum amount, taking into account previously paid sums.

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