Chapter 1. Observing social rights In 2019, the Commissioner initiated proceedings on numerous appeals by citizens affected by Chornobyl disaster on violations of their rights to social protection and pensions. One of the positive developments in the area of exercising the right of this category of citizens to retirement benefits is the fact that the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine #543 of 26 June 2019 “On Amendments to Certain Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine” amended item 9-1 of the Procedure for Calculating Pensions to Persons affected by Chornobyl Disaster, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 1210 of 23 November 2011 “On Enhancing Social Protection of Citizens Affected by Chornobyl Disaster.” This amendment was made to implement the judgment of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine No. 1-r(II)/2019 of 25 April 2019 on the extension of special conditions for calculating disability pension in the amount of 5 minimum wages established by law on 1 January of the respective year for all categories of military servants who were directly involved in liquidation of effects of Chornobyl disaster and subsequently suffered disability9. The Commissioner believes that all the persons who were directly involved in liquidation of effects of Chornobyl disaster and subsequently suffered disability listed in Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Status and Social Protection of the Citizens Affected of Chornobyl Disaster” #796-XII of 28 February 1991 should have equal conditions of pension coverage. The draft law “On amendments to the Law of Ukraine “ On the Status and Social Protection of the Citizens Affected of Chornobyl Disaster” in terms of raising the level of pension and social coverage of individual categories of persons (reg. #10169 of 20.03.2019) that aimed to regulate this issue is withdrawn because of the election of the new convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Therefore, the issue remains unresolved. As the PFU territorial bodies recalculated the pensions of specified categories of citizens in accordance with item 9 1 of the said Procedure, there was a significant increase in the size of the pensions paid to military servants who were directly involved in liquidation of effects of Chornobyl disaster and subsequently suffered disability, However, it is worth noting that the formula for calculating the pension for this category of pensioners, set out in item 9-1 of the Procedure is currently losing its meaning due to the rapid increase of the average wage/income of an average insured person in Ukraine from which the insurance premiums were paid, compared to the minimum wage established by law on 1 January of the respective year. It results in a decrease in the average monthly wage rate that serves as the basis for calculating the pension. Therefore, there is no significant increase in the pension. The Commissioner’s proposals for raising the level of pension coverage for the persons affected by Chornobyl disaster were not supported by the Ministry of Social Policy, as the latter referred to the limited budget resources. The violation of the rights of persons affected by Chornobyl disaster to receive timely compensations and other allowances guaranteed by the legislation of Ukraine was identified. According to PFU data, as of 1 January 2020, there are about 20,600 persons registered with PFU bodies who have amounts of disability pension or of pension in connection with the loss of the breadwinner calculated in accordance with item 9-1 of the Procedure for Calculating Pensions to Persons affected by Chornobyl Disaster, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 1210 of 23 November 2011 “On Enhancing Social Protection of Citizens Affected by Chornobyl Disaster.” 9 27 CHAPTER 1 Respect for the rights of citizens of privileged categories