Is an increase in the subsistence minimum a basis for recalculating a military pension
In Ukraine, military pensioners have the right to a pension recalculation in case of an increase in the monetary allowance of the relevant categories of servicemen. However, in practice, the Pension Fund authorities often refuse such recalculation even after submitting an updated certificate on the amount of monetary allowance. In such cases, courts verify whether the grounds for recalculation provided by law have arisen and whether the Pension Fund had an obligation to carry it out after receiving the proper documents.
The Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal considered such a dispute. The court reviewed the legality of the first instance court's decision, which obliged the Pension Fund to recalculate the pension based on the updated certificate on the amount of monetary allowance, and left that decision unchanged.
Circumstances of the case
The plaintiff, registered with the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Lviv region and receiving a pension according to the Law of Ukraine "On Pension Provision for Persons Released from Military Service and Some Other Persons," in January 2026 applied to the court to challenge the refusal of the Pension Fund authority to recalculate his pension from February 1, 2023. The basis for such recalculation was a certificate on the amount of monetary allowance as of January 1, 2023, issued on December 11, 2025, by the relevant authorized state body in accordance with Articles 43 and 63 of Law No. 2262-XII and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 704 dated August 30, 2017.
After the pensioner applied to the Main Department of the Pension Fund with a request for pension recalculation and submitted the mentioned certificate, the defendant informed about the absence of legal grounds for such recalculation. This refusal became the subject of judicial appeal.
By the decision of the Lviv District Administrative Court dated March 19, 2026, the claim was fully satisfied. The court recognized the actions of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Lviv region regarding the refusal to recalculate and pay the pension from February 1, 2023, according to the certificate on the amount of monetary allowance compiled under the norms effective as of January 1, 2023, as unlawful. The court also obliged the Pension Fund authority to carry out the recalculation and payment of the pension considering this certificate and the amounts already paid.
Disagreeing with this decision, the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Lviv region filed an appeal. The defendant argued that the first instance court incorrectly applied substantive law norms and did not consider the provisions of part four of Article 63 of Law No. 2262-XII, according to which the recalculation of military pensions is carried out in connection with the increase of monetary allowance under the conditions, procedure, and amounts determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. According to the appellant, these provisions were decisive for resolving the dispute.
Examining the arguments of the appeal, the appellate court established that the plaintiff is indeed a recipient of a pension assigned according to Law No. 2262-XII and, after receiving the updated certificate on the amount of monetary allowance, applied to the Pension Fund with a request for recalculation. Despite the presence of the certificate, the defendant refused the recalculation citing the absence of legal grounds.
The court also noted that the first instance court proceeded from the fact that after the increase of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, legal grounds arose for reviewing the components of monetary allowance for servicemen, and therefore for recalculating the plaintiff's pension. Having received the pensioner's application and a properly issued certificate on the amount of monetary allowance, the Pension Fund authority was obliged to carry out the appropriate recalculation and not refuse it. This conclusion was the subject of the appellate court's review.
Position of the appellate court
The appellate court agreed with the conclusions of the first instance court and noted that the special normative legal act regulating legal relations in the field of pension provision for citizens among persons released from military service is the Law of Ukraine "On Pension Provision for Persons Released from Military Service and Some Other Persons" No. 2262-XII. This law defines both the procedure for calculating pensions and the grounds and mechanism for their further recalculation.
The court noted that according to part three of Article 43 of Law No. 2262-XII, pensions for servicemen are calculated based on the amount of monetary allowance, which includes the official salary, salary for military (special) rank, length-of-service allowance, as well as all monthly additional types of monetary allowance and bonuses in amounts established by legislation.
Moreover, part eighteen of Article 43 of Law No. 2262-XII provides that if at the time of pension assignment or payment the amount of at least one type of monetary allowance changes or new monthly additional types of monetary allowance or bonuses are introduced for the relevant category of servicemen, the assigned pension is subject to immediate recalculation considering such changes.
Analyzing the provisions of Article 63 of Law No. 2262-XII, the court noted that the recalculation of previously assigned pensions can be carried out both based on documents already contained in the pension case and on additional documents submitted by the pensioner. If a person after pension assignment submits documents confirming the right to its increase, the pension is subject to recalculation under the norms of this law. At the same time, the law establishes that recalculation for the past period is carried out no more than twelve months before the day of submission of such documents, unless otherwise provided by law.
At the same time, the court emphasized that part four of Article 63 of Law No. 2262-XII indeed entrusts the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with the authority to determine the conditions, procedure, and amounts of recalculation of military pensions in connection with the increase of monetary allowance for the relevant categories of servicemen. Thus, the government defines the mechanism for such recalculation, but this does not deprive the pensioner of the right to demand its implementation if the grounds provided by law exist.
The court also referred to the provisions of Article 51 of Law No. 2262-XII, according to which the pension recalculation is carried out from the first day of the month following the occurrence of circumstances entailing a change in its amount. If the recalculation was not carried out due to the fault of the Pension Fund authorities or the state body issuing the certificate on the amount of monetary allowance, it must be carried out from the date the right arose without any time limitation.
The appellate court thoroughly analyzed the Procedure for pension recalculation approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 45. The court noted that after the Cabinet of Ministers' decision on pension recalculation, the Pension Fund informs its territorial bodies about the need to form lists of persons whose pensions are subject to recalculation. Based on these lists, authorized state bodies prepare certificates on the amount of monetary allowance and transfer them to the Pension Fund authorities, which directly carry out the pension recalculation. The state body from which the person was released from service is authorized to issue such a certificate unless otherwise provided by Procedure No. 45.
Separately, the court analyzed Procedure No. 3-1, approved by the Pension Fund of Ukraine Board Resolution dated January 30, 2007. The court noted that this normative act explicitly provides for the possibility of pension recalculation based on the pensioner's application and documents attached to it. Thus, the pensioner's appeal with an application and a properly issued certificate on the amount of monetary allowance is an independent basis for considering the issue of recalculation.
Summarizing the above legislative provisions, the appellate court noted that the basis for recalculating pensions assigned according to Law No. 2262-XII is a change in the amount of at least one type of monetary allowance or the introduction of new monthly additional types of monetary allowance made based on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decision. At the same time, the Pension Fund authorities, after receiving a proper certificate from the authorized body, must carry out the pension recalculation exclusively considering those components of monetary allowance indicated in such certificate.
In this context, the court took into account the legal conclusion of the Supreme Court set out in the ruling dated May 24, 2023, in case No. 160/19847/21. The Supreme Court concluded that the pensioner's application and attached documents, including the certificate on the amount of monetary allowance, are proper grounds for recalculating a military pension provided that the issuance of such certificate was caused by a change in the amount of at least one type of monetary allowance or the introduction of new components of monetary allowance for the relevant category of servicemen. The appellate court noted that this legal approach applies in this case as well.
Conclusions of the court in case No. 380/1076/26
Applying the above substantive law norms and the Supreme Court's legal conclusions, the appellate court agreed with the first instance court's conclusion that the refusal of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Lviv region to recalculate the pension based on the certificate on the amount of monetary allowance as of January 1, 2023, is unlawful. The court noted that in this case, the plaintiff submitted a proper document confirming the emergence of the right to pension recalculation, and therefore the defendant was obliged to carry out the appropriate recalculation.
The court established that the basis for issuing the updated certificate was the plaintiff's right to determine the pension amount based on the components of monetary allowance calculated according to the current version of paragraph 4 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution dated August 30, 2017, No. 704. The decisive factor was that from January 1, 2023, the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons changed, established by the Law of Ukraine "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2023," which is used as a calculated value for determining official salaries and salaries for military (special) ranks.
According to the court, it was precisely the increase in the subsistence minimum that led to changes in the components of monetary allowance considered when calculating the pension according to Articles 43 and 63 of Law No. 2262-XII, Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Their Families," and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 704. In connection with this, the grounds provided by law for recalculating the pension of a person released from military service arose.
The appellate court emphasized that this circumstance imposes on the authorized state body the obligation to prepare and send to the Pension Fund authority an updated certificate on the amount of monetary allowance indicating all components determined according to the norms effective on the date of the change in servicemen's monetary allowance. After receiving such a certificate, the Pension Fund authority must carry out the appropriate pension recalculation.
The panel of judges also took into account the established practice of the Supreme Court set out in rulings dated August 2, 2022, in case No. 440/6017/21, August 31, 2022, in case No. 120/8603/21-a, September 12, 2022, in case No. 500/1813/21, September 14, 2022, in case No. 500/1886/21, and September 22, 2022, in case No. 500/3840/21. In these decisions, the Supreme Court formed a legal position according to which the increase from January 1 of the respective year of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons as a calculated value applied in determining official salaries and salaries for military (special) ranks according to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 704 leads to an increase in the monetary allowance of active servicemen. Such a change, in turn, according to Law No. 2262-XII, is a basis for recalculating pensions of persons released from military service.
In view of this, the appellate court concluded that after receiving from the authorized state body the certificate dated December 11, 2025, on the amount of monetary allowance, the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Lviv region was obliged to recalculate the plaintiff's pension starting from February 1, 2023. The refusal to carry out such recalculation contradicted the requirements of the legislation and violated the plaintiff's right to proper pension provision.
Evaluating the arguments of the appeal, the panel of judges noted that they do not refute the correctness of the first instance court's conclusions and do not indicate incorrect application of substantive or procedural law norms. The appellate court did not find grounds defined by Article 317 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine to cancel the decision of the Lviv District Administrative Court or adopt a new decision.
Considering the results of the appellate review, the court noted that there are no grounds for redistributing court costs. As a result of the consideration, the appeal of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Lviv region was dismissed, and the decision of the Lviv District Administrative Court dated March 19, 2026, in case No. 380/1076/26 was left unchanged.
The appellate court's ruling came into legal force from the moment of its adoption and is not subject to cassation appeal, except in cases directly provided for by paragraph 2 of part five of Article 328 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine.
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