The President of Ukraine has signed Law of Ukraine “On Aid to Insured Persons for the Period of Restrictive Anti-Epidemic Measures Introduced to Prevent the Spread of Acute Respiratory Disease COVID-19 Caused by SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus” No. 1358-IX of March 30, 2021, which provides for the payment of one-time aid in the amount of UAH 8,000. The Law has already been officially published in “Voice of Ukraine” (Golos Ukrainy) No. 65 of April 8, 2021. Accordingly, its provisions came into force on April 9, 2021 (the text of the document provides that it will enter into force on the day following the day of its publication).
The Law provides for the payment of benefits to insured persons who lose part of their salary or income at the expense of state and local budgets in the event of the introduction of additional restrictive anti-epidemic measures.
Such aid to the insured persons will be provided in case the insurer of the respective insured person is registered as a payer of the single social contribution (hereinafter – SSC) in the territory of the administrative and unit where the “red” quarantine zone is introduced.
The list of the main types of economic activity in respect of which additional restrictive anti-epidemic measures are taken, which lead to temporary suspension of business entities in which insured persons work, and sole proprietors, is determined by the Cabinet (hereinafter – the List of economic activities). It is unknown at this time what activities will be included in this list.
The Law stipulates that aid to insured persons will be provided once and will be paid from the State Budget of Ukraine in the amount of UAH 8,000.
In addition to guaranteed state aid, the sole proprietors and employees will be able to receive additional payments from local budgets if the local government makes a decision.
The insured person, who is entitled to aid, must be an employee of a business entity, the main type of economic activity of which is declared first in the information from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individuals – Entrepreneurs and Public Organizations as of the last day of the month preceding month in which the application for aid is submitted, and corresponds to the types defined in the List of economic activities.
1) employees:
- who, at the date of application, are employed by a business entity that has not paid a single contribution to the obligatory state social insurance for all months of the respective quarter, namely:
- the fourth quarter of 2020, if additional restrictive anti-epidemic measures related to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were introduced in February – May 2021;
- the first quarter of 2021, if additional restrictive anti-epidemic measures related to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were introduced in June – August 2021;
- the second quarter of 2021, if additional restrictive anti-epidemic measures related to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were introduced in September – November 2021;
- the third quarter of 2021, if additional restrictive anti-epidemic measures related to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were introduced in December 2021;
- who works for an entity whose main economic activity on the last day of the month preceding the month in which the application is submitted did not belong to the List of activities;
- who works part-time for the entity;
- whose average salary exceeds UAH 30 thousand per month. In this case, for the calculation of the average salary, all three months of the last reporting quarter, which precedes the submission of the application, are taken into account;
2) sole proprietors who are insured persons:
- whose state registration on the last day of the month preceding the month in which the application is submitted is less than three months;
- who for the last reporting year paid a single contribution to the obligatory state social insurance for themselves in less than six months (except for persons who are exempt from paying a single contribution to the obligatory state social insurance if they receive an old-age pension or are persons with disabilities or have reached the age established by Article 26 of the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Insurance”);
- the main type of economic activity of which on the last day of the month preceding the month in which the application is submitted, did not belong to the List of types of economic activity;
- who are employees and sole proprietors at the same time;
- whose business activities on the last day of the month preceding the month in which additional restrictive anti-epidemic measures related to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are introduced in the region, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public organizations, is terminated.
The payment of benefits to insured persons is made on the basis of the application of the insured person, submitted in electronic form using the Unified State Web Portal of electronic services (portal and application “Action” (Diia)).
The insured person has the right to apply for the payment of aid to the insured persons within 30 days from the date of introduction of additional restrictive anti-epidemic measures on the territory of the respective administrative and territorial unit.
The payment of aid to the insured person is made by the authorized bank to the bank account (in IBAN format) specified in the application of the insured person.
The insured persons are responsible for the accuracy of the information provided to receive assistance provided by this Law.
In case of detection of unreliable information provided by the insured person, on the basis of which the aid was paid, which affects the right of the insured person to receive it, the amount of assistance shall be returned by the insured person to the State Budget of Ukraine and the relevant local budget in the manner prescribed by the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Law stipulates that a 30-day period for submitting an application for assistance in connection with additional restrictive measures introduced in February – March 2021 begins 10 days after the entry into force of this Law.
The Government has already approved the Procedure for Payment of Quarantine Aid to Sole Proprietors and Employees. Acceptance of applications for quarantine aid may begin next week.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has amended Resolution “On Quarantine and Restrictive Anti-Epidemic Measures to Prevent the Spread of Acute Respiratory Disease COVID-19 Caused by SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus” No. 1236 of December 9, 2020.
It is now allowed in the regions where the “red” level of epidemic danger is established, to trade in garden material and the provision of services for washing and dry cleaning of textiles and fur products. Changes were made to paragraph 4 item 35 of Resolution No. 1236.
The National Bank of Ukraine has answered the question on its Facebook page: “Can the bank forcibly issue a credit card to the salary card?”. The answer is no, it can’t. Banks have the right to offer their customers related services, but cannot require the purchase of them.
Therefore, if a person really needs a credit card, of course, it may be issued, but if not, then a person has a right to refuse an offer.
This right is confirmed by Art. 55 of the Law of Ukraine “On Banks and Banking”: banks are prohibited from requiring the customer to purchase any goods or services from the bank or from a related person of the bank as a mandatory condition for the provision of banking services.
If the bank denies a person a card without buying a credit card, you must:
- write an appeal to the bank's management;
- if the situation is not resolved and the bank does not terminate the services that the person refused in writing, you should contact the National Bank.
