Civil Servant Pension in Ukraine: Supreme Court on Salary Certificates and Pension Calculation

The Supreme Court, sitting as a panel of judges of the Administrative Cassation Court, emphasized that for persons who left the civil service before the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service” came into force on 1 May 2016, salary certificates issued today do not “update” information on all components of their remuneration. Such certificates may confirm only the official salary, the rank allowance and the length-of-service allowance, while all other components of remuneration are determined exclusively on the basis of the figures applicable as of May 2016.

First of all, it is worth outlining the circumstances that gave rise to the dispute.

The claimant was receiving an old-age pension under the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Insurance”. Having reached the statutory retirement age and accumulated 22 years of civil service, she applied to the Pension Fund authorities for a transfer to a civil servant pension under Article 37 of Law No. 3723-XII, calculated at 60 percent of the salary on which the unified social contribution had been paid.

Together with her application, she submitted two salary certificates issued in 2024 by the Main Department of the State Tax Service in the Khmelnytskyi Region. The certificates were prepared using the forms established by Resolution No. 622 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 14 September 2016.

However, the Pension Fund refused to grant her application, stating that as of 1 May 2016, when the new Law on Civil Service came into force, the applicant did not have sufficient length of service in civil service positions to qualify for the relevant pension. It should be noted that the Pension Fund did not include the periods of her employment with the state tax authorities from 1993 to 2015 in her insurance record at all.

The Khmelnytskyi District Administrative Court partially upheld the claim. The court declared the Pension Fund’s refusal unlawful, ordered it to include all periods of the claimant’s employment with the State Tax Service in her insurance record and to transfer her to an old-age civil servant pension. At the same time, the court ruled that the certificates concerning the components of her salary should not be taken into account.

By its judgment of 6 May 2025, the Seventh Administrative Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the judgment of the court of first instance.

The judgments of the lower courts were challenged insofar as they refused to take into account the certificates concerning the components of remuneration issued in 2024 by the Main Department of the State Tax Service in the Khmelnytskyi Region. The claimant argued that the Pension Fund should have taken these figures into account when transferring her to a civil servant pension. The Pension Fund, in turn, maintained that the certificates could not be used because she had not been employed in the civil service after 2015 and, accordingly, had not paid insurance contributions in respect of such remuneration.

Having considered the cassation appeal, the Supreme Court agreed that the disputed certificates should be taken into account, but only with respect to the official salary, the rank allowance and the length-of-service allowance. Other payments must be determined on the basis of the figures applicable as of May 2016.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court partially upheld the cassation appeal: the judgments of the lower courts were set aside insofar as they concerned the refusal to take the salary certificates into account, while the remainder of the judgments was left unchanged.

The Supreme Court’s conclusion emphasizes that persons who left the civil service before the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service” No. 889-VIII came into force retain the right to have certain components of remuneration applicable as of the date of their pension application taken into account.

If you have questions about applying for a pension, including how to have periods of employment included in your pensionable service, what to do if your employer failed to pay social insurance contributions, how insurance periods are calculated, or issues concerning early retirement pensions, military pensions, old-age pensions for combat veterans, or other matters relating to social protection, we recommend contacting our experienced pension lawyers.

We understand that pension disputes and court proceedings can seem complicated and exhausting. At our Pension Center, you can expect an attentive approach, a clear action plan and ongoing legal support to help you navigate the process with confidence and avoid unnecessary stress.