Ukrainian military servicemen have been called on to tighten their belts. The 2000 budget provides for no concessions which would make service in the Armed Forces even minimally attractive. Despite these hard realities, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense said he would do his best to ward off a social blow from the Armed Forces. However, it will be very difficult, if even possible, to do this.
Those uniformed military personnel, whose occupation is bound up with risk and ignoring their own personal interests for those of the state, must receive compensation as a top priority. This is common practice in all countries with armies. Hitherto, Ukrainian military officers have been entitled to having their public utility bills halved, traveling free when on annual leave, paying for a cut-rate vacation in a health spa, and a payok (monthly ration of meat, flour, and other goodies — Ed.). Since the officer’s salary is not excessively generous, and there is work only for men in faraway garrisons where the lion’s share of our army is stationed, these concessions are basic to the officers’ family budgets.
“The draft 2000 state budget envisioned cancellation of some of these privileges. But if they are really taken away, some categories of our commissioned and noncommissioned officers would end up in the red: they could get such pay as minus six and minus ten hryvnias,” Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk declared.
However, a Solomonic decision was finally reached. The military will be paying for utilities, leave, and spas with no any relief. But if it comes, for example, to paying the rent, the officer can take a certificate at the public utility service and submit it to the accounting department of his unit which is to reimburse him in the amount of half he had to pay. In practice, though, this money will not be on time and may not come at all because the army still has pay arrears for 1998. As to the so-called lease money (when an officer rents lodging at his own expense from a private landlord), it is usually withheld for years, even though the state has committed itself to pay for this all of three hryvnias a month.
However, this is not the last unpleasant surprise for Ukraine’s professional soldiers. It has not yet been decided if officers’ pay will be subject to the profit tax.
“The Ministry of Defense’s position is that we should not have to pay this tax. We make no profits. If I am Minister of Defense by day and watchman at a cooperative garage by night, I am supposed to be put behind bars for corruption, right? There can be no other profit. We are on a money allowance. This is why we are fighting this,” said General Kuzmuk.
The outcome of this battle is still unclear. However, as practice shows, the Ukrainian military so far has never emerged victorious from any fiscal war.
