Wages of Ukrainian MPs tripled

The wages of the members of the Supreme Rada and some government officials have been almost tripled from 6,500 UAH to 17,500 UAH a month (more than $750).

Almost at one and the same time the government raised tariffs for the population and cut pensions to working pensioners.

Former MP Andriy Pavlovskiy hurried to congratulate pro-governmental MP Mustafa Nayyem on the raise. “Good news for Mustafa. A raise! On Apr 1 they raised not only tariffs for the population but also the wages of government officials and MPs,” Pavlovskiy said on Facebook on Apr 14.

According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in Jan-Feb 2015 the average salary in the country made up almost 3,500 UAH ($153) a month.

On Apr 1, the Ukrainian authorities raised the gas tariff from 1.09 UAH to 3.6-7.2 UAH per cubic meter (depending on consumption rate), the electric power tariff from 0.06 UAD to 0.21 UAD per one KWh, the heating tariff by 6-10 UAH per square meter, the hot water tariff by 55-57% to 40 UAH per cubic meter.

The National Bank of Ukraine expects this to cause 50% inflation.