**Покращити ЖИТТЯ ПЕНСІОНЕРІВ. Законопроект 15588 співавторством Івана Хомича уже переданий депутатам — Transcript & Summary | SozAI**
Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/improve-pensioners-life-bill-15588-ivan-khomych/

Bill 15588 aims to speed up pension payments by making court decisions on pensions legally binding immediately after first instance rulings.

## Key Takeaways

- Bill 15588 will make pension recalculation court decisions effective immediately after first instance rulings.
- This will significantly reduce waiting times caused by lengthy appellate court processes.
- The bill targets pensioners involved in legal disputes with the Pension Fund, potentially benefiting millions.
- It is supported by legal experts and MPs and aims to reduce the Pension Fund's litigation backlog.
- Faster pension payments will improve the financial security of pensioners across Ukraine.

## What the video covers

- Bill 15588 is co-authored by Ivan Khomych to improve pensioners' lives by simplifying and accelerating pension recalculations and payments.
- Currently, pensioners face long delays due to appellate court processes, sometimes waiting over a year for pension recalculation enforcement.
- The bill proposes that court decisions on pension recalculations become legally binding immediately after the first instance court ruling, regardless of appeals.
- This change allows pensioners to receive payments faster by bypassing lengthy appellate court delays.
- The bill targets cases where the Supreme Court has already issued relevant rulings, reducing repeated appeals and backlog.
- Ivan Khomych is a practicing lawyer and PhD in law, combining practical and academic expertise in drafting this bill.
- The bill addresses the high volume of lawsuits against the Pension Fund, which annually faces over 200,000 court decisions as defendant.
- Additional related bills aim to further improve pension payment procedures and legal enforcement.
- The bill has reached the Verkhovna Rada and is supported by other MPs familiar with its merits.
- The video encourages viewers to support the bill to help hundreds of thousands of pensioners receive timely pensions.

## Chapters

1. 00:00 Introduction and system failure in pension recalculation
2. 02:16 Overview of Bill 15588 and its goals
3. 04:51 Legal effect of first instance court decisions on pensions
4. 07:39 Addressing Pension Fund non-payment and legal procedures
5. 10:01 Additional related bills and legislative context
6. 11:51 Ivan Khomych's legal practice and expertise
7. 14:31 Challenges with appellate courts and delays
8. 17:03 Call to action and public support for the bill

Answers

## Questions about this video

What is the main purpose of bill 15588?

The main purpose of bill 15588 is to make court decisions on pension recalculations legally binding immediately after the first instance ruling, allowing pensioners to receive payments faster without waiting for appellate court confirmation.

Who is Ivan Khomych and what is his role in this bill?

Ivan Khomych is a lawyer and Doctor of Philosophy in Law who co-authored bill 15588. He combines practical legal experience with academic research to help draft legislation improving pensioners' rights.

How does the bill affect pensioners currently involved in legal disputes with the Pension Fund?

The bill benefits pensioners by shortening the legal process, allowing court decisions on pensions to be executed immediately after the first ruling, thus reducing the long wait times caused by appeals and ensuring faster pension payments.

## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

00:00

Speaker A

Designed to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of pensioners, the Pension Fund was to recalculate the pension. The system collapsed. Well, the system failed. How cool, I mean, how, well, how can one work as a judge like that, when

00:14

Speaker A

not paying a pension is the last thing the state should do to its citizens, right?

00:19

Speaker A

Not paying a pension is the last thing the state should do to its citizens, right?

00:26

Speaker A

Hello, dear viewers. You're watching the People's Opinion channel, and today we are visiting Ivan Khomych. Good day, Ivan.

00:32

Speaker A

So people will start receiving their funds much faster. Yeah, exactly. You're looking, uh, at the root of it.

00:53

Speaker A

in the future, improve the lives of all millions of pensioners. A very important bill that has a very positive impact on Pension Fund payments. We will talk about that now. Uh. Ivan Khomych, as a co-author of this bill,

01:11

Speaker A

Hello, dear viewers. You're watching the People's Opinion channel, and today we are visiting Ivan Khomych. Good day, Ivan.

01:20

Speaker A

Yes. Greetings, Oleksandr. Uh, greetings. Uh, respected viewers of People's Opinion, uh, truly, the bill we are going to discuss in this video, uh, in my conviction, concerns hundreds of thousands of pensioners at this time . In the future, it could be millions

01:38

Speaker A

Hello, Oleksandr. Ivan Khomych is a lawyer, owner of the Ivan Khomych Law Firm, Doctor of Philosophy in Law, and co-author of a very important bill designed to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of pensioners. Without exaggeration, and

01:54

Speaker A

Fund is very high, more than 200,000, uh, uh, court decisions are made annually where the Pension Fund is the defendant. Therefore, bill 1558, is aimed at simplifying and shortening the court process procedure. This means that a court decision regarding a

02:16

Speaker A

In the future, improve the lives of all millions of pensioners. A very important bill that has a very positive impact on Pension Fund payments. We will talk about that now. Uh. Ivan Khomych, as a co-author of this bill,

02:32

Speaker A

regardless of the fact that the Pension Fund may file an appeal. What does this give people? It gives them the opportunity, right after the first instance court ruling, to go to the enforcement service or the Pension Fund to have the pension recalculated,

02:44

Speaker A

Will explain all its details and nuances to you, dear pensioners, so you can stay informed. So, good day to you once again.

02:59

Speaker A

of waiting in the appellate court to be heard. Although this case is typical and routine, people wait a year for the appellate court to confirm that yes, the decision is lawful and fair, because it was based on a Supreme Court

03:13

Speaker A

Yes. Greetings, Oleksandr. Uh, greetings. Uh, respected viewers of People's Opinion, uh, truly, the bill we are going to discuss in this video, uh, in my conviction, concerns hundreds of thousands of pensioners at this time. In the future, it could be millions

03:31

Speaker A

about the Pension Fund's non-payment of that debt amount or the increased pension itself. This specific bill does , in principle, address payments, but within the scope of the general procedures currently provided for in legislation. By the way, it is worth

03:49

Speaker A

Of pensioners. All those who are currently in a state of legal dispute with the Pension Fund and who will be suing them in the future. Because in fact, in Ukraine, it’s no secret, the number of lawsuits against the Pension

04:04

Speaker A

of the Supreme Court for that category of cases. In other words, for those cases where the probability of the decision being reviewed on appeal is quite low. For those, we propose that they should enter into legal force immediately after the court of first

04:20

Speaker A

Fund is very high, more than 200,000, uh, uh, court decisions are made annually where the Pension Fund is the defendant. Therefore, bill 1558, is aimed at simplifying and shortening the court process procedure. This means that a court decision regarding a

04:35

Speaker A

decision. There are other bills, by the way. Uh, authored by the same Member of Parliament who, after familiarizing himself with my bill, saw the merit in it, and thanks to him, this bill has now reached the Verkhovna Rada of

04:51

Speaker A

Pensioner's case would take legal effect immediately after the court of first instance issues it, specifically regarding the recalculated pension or the assigned pension. So, the court has made its decision. Uh, from that day on, it becomes legally binding,

05:09

Speaker A

Ukraine on the State Budget that will guarantee the payment of all current pension amounts assigned or accrued on the basis of a court decision. By current, I mean not just about the arrears, because that is also a relevant issue, but it is not as acute

05:24

Speaker A

Regardless of the fact that the Pension Fund may file an appeal. What does this give people? It gives them the opportunity, right after the first instance court ruling, to go to the enforcement service or the Pension Fund to have the pension recalculated,

05:44

Speaker A

the thing is that this bill was prepared by that Member of Parliament, his consultants, and assistants. I fully agree with it, I support it, but honestly, I have nothing to add to it.

05:56

Speaker A

Assigned, and start receiving payments. And this way, there is no need to wait for months, and now even years, while the case is in the appellate process, because this year many cases across Ukraine have actually exceeded one year

06:13

Speaker A

the head of a firm with quite a few people working there, I still enjoy practicing law, preparing documents, and especially digging into complex cases. So, I still maintain quite a, well, a substantial practice as a lawyer. I write documents, prepare

06:32

Speaker A

Of waiting in the appellate court to be heard. Although this case is typical and routine, people wait a year for the appellate court to confirm that yes, the decision is lawful and fair, because it was based on a Supreme Court

06:51

Speaker A

And when theory and practice meet, you get a pretty good result. So, in essence, this bill is the result of that blend of me as a practicing lawyer and, in principle, a budding researcher , a PhD student. And it was in the

07:09

Speaker A

Ruling. Uh, that is essentially what the bill is aimed at. Does the bill include a section on simplifying not just the execution, but also the payments? Right now, a large number of pensioners are very anxious, not so much about the execution, but

07:25

Speaker A

through bills, I wouldn't have seen this problem. Because when clients come to me daily and can't understand why their case, a test case, has been sitting in the appellate court for over half a year, and it’s almost been a

07:39

Speaker A

About the Pension Fund's non-payment of that debt amount or the increased pension itself. This specific bill does, in principle, address payments, but within the scope of the general procedures currently provided for in legislation. By the way, it is worth

07:56

Speaker A

, looking at the statistics from the Council of Judges of Ukraine, which say that the current workload for one judge in administrative appellate courts is up to 10 times higher than the standard . Whether it's the Sixth or Seventh

08:11

Speaker A

Noting that this will only apply to those court decisions where the court referred to a relevant Supreme Court ruling; that is, when there is either a test case from the Supreme Court or a legal conclusion from the Grand Chamber

08:25

Speaker A

the system itself can process. And this bill could fix this process, as far as I understand. Yes, exactly, you’re right about that. If this bill is passed and the provision is introduced that the decision enters into force immediately, then the need

08:42

Speaker A

Of the Supreme Court for that category of cases. In other words, for those cases where the probability of the decision being reviewed on appeal is quite low. For those, we propose that they should enter into legal force immediately after the court of first

08:56

Speaker A

decision. And accordingly, all this time while the case sits in the appellate court, which is six months to a year, the court decision is not being executed. It will only be executed when the appellate court reviews the case.

09:06

Speaker A

Instance issues the ruling. And payment should take place because the court decision has entered into legal force; the person has gone to the Pension Fund, submitted it for execution, and from the following month, the Pension Fund must make payments based on that court

09:21

Speaker A

people their pensions. And if, as we propose, this moment of the decision entering into legal force is moved not to the appeal, but to the first instance court, then in principle, in my conviction, there is no point for

09:33

Speaker A

Decision. There are other bills, by the way. Uh, authored by the same Member of Parliament who, after familiarizing himself with my bill, saw the merit in it, and thanks to him, this bill has now reached the Verkhovna Rada of

09:47

Speaker A

the court decision. But that is definitely not a model case and not the Supreme Court. Let's pause here for a moment and summarize for our viewers and subscribers what this bill is about , in a nutshell, what its practical

10:01

Speaker A

Ukraine. This is Mr. Andrii Anatoliiovych Kozhemiakin. Uh, besides this bill we are talking about, he registered another bill of his own, which actually raises the issue of pension payments. He wants to introduce a corresponding provision in the Law of

10:12

Speaker A

Yes. Okay, thank you for the question. I will address those who are already currently involved in a court process.

10:20

Speaker A

Ukraine on the State Budget that will guarantee the payment of all current pension amounts assigned or accrued on the basis of a court decision. By current, I mean not just about the arrears, because that is also a relevant issue, but it is not as acute

10:32

Speaker A

have previously this is for those pensioners who decided to increase their pension, to go to court, in which they found some underpayments or some violations by the Pension Fund. And for those categories that are already going through court,

10:47

Speaker A

As current pensions, because right now, even current pensions are not being paid in full. I also read that bill; I told my subscribers about it. Tell me, please, do you want to participate as a co-author of that bill as well? Well,

11:01

Speaker A

sue, as to what this bill will give you if it is voted for and these changes are made to the legislation. That is, if previously, for example in Kyiv, you waited a year and a half or two for

11:12

Speaker A

The thing is that this bill was prepared by that Member of Parliament, his consultants, and assistants. I fully agree with it, I support it, but honestly, I have nothing to add to it.

11:27

Speaker A

speaking, you filed a lawsuit, the court reviewed it for a month, two, three, maybe four, maybe a bit longer.

11:34

Speaker A

It is written quite correctly and competently. How did this bill that we are talking about now, 1558, come to be? It's, well, first of all, it's, you know, a blend of my practical experience as a lawyer. Although, as

11:42

Speaker A

Well, like those regarding indexing, yes, civil pension indexing, which is very common right now. Recalculations, almost all military pension recalculations, they are model cases.

11:51

Speaker A

The head of a firm with quite a few people working there, I still enjoy practicing law, preparing documents, and especially digging into complex cases. So, I still maintain quite a, well, a substantial practice as a lawyer. I write documents, prepare

12:08

Speaker A

understand what it offers, is that you are essentially no longer dependent on the appellate review of your case. And appellate review, if it used to take 2-3 months, wasn't that critical, you know? It wasn't that critical. But when

12:24

Speaker A

Appeals, requests, and everything else. And this experience as a practicing lawyer, combined with my experience as a researcher during my PhD studies, gave me, you know, a slightly different perspective on these issues, because there's practice and there's theory.

12:37

Speaker A

courts this year, then next year it will be a year and a half. And accordingly, if this bill is voted through, it solves this problem just like that.

12:48

Speaker A

And when theory and practice meet, you get a pretty good result. So, in essence, this bill is the result of that blend of me as a practicing lawyer and, in principle, a budding researcher, a PhD student. And it was in the

13:02

Speaker A

restore their violated rights, regardless of how long the case is pending in the appellate court. That is the main positive effect people get from this legal process, because time is not on the pensioners 'side. As a co-author of this bill, what is your

13:20

Speaker A

Third chapter of my thesis, where we discuss the protection of violated pension rights, that the idea for this bill was born. And this is linked to the problems we see in practice. I mean, if I were just a researcher reading

13:40

Speaker A

of them are linked to additional budget expenditures. Meaning it’s about increasing pensions, recalculating pensions, or payouts based on a court decision. So, it has to be approved by the Ministry of Finance to see if there are funds for it, or we have to specify

13:58

Speaker A

Through bills, I wouldn't have seen this problem. Because when clients come to me daily and can't understand why their case, a test case, has been sitting in the appellate court for over half a year, and it’s almost been a

14:12

Speaker A

whatsoever. Once this bill is passed, it may lead to a situation where the Pension Fund, realizing it no longer makes sense to file appeals in these test cases, will stop filing them, and consequently, will no longer have to

14:31

Speaker A

Year. And when I try to communicate with the assistants or secretaries of appellate judges, I realize they've completely shut themselves off from the public because they don't have office hours. So, it's realistically impossible to speak with them. And then

14:48

Speaker A

fees. So, in essence, I believe that since this bill brings improvements for people, no one will argue with that.

14:58

Speaker A

Looking at the statistics from the Council of Judges of Ukraine, which say that the current workload for one judge in administrative appellate courts is up to 10 times higher than the standard. Whether it's the Sixth or Seventh

15:16

Speaker A

spent on pensions, or... Exactly, 200 million can be given to pensioners. And... And the third positive effect of this bill is that it unloads administrative appellate courts from these hopeless appeals. This is also a positive effect which, in principle, I think is

15:37

Speaker A

Appellate Court, on average, the workload is about seven times higher than their regulations provide, so I realize the system has collapsed. Well, the system has malfunctioned. The number of appeals arriving in appellate courts is seven times greater than what

15:53

Speaker A

case, sees it was decided based on a Supreme Court ruling, and says, "Well, everything is correct, approved, yes, leave it unchanged." And a person waits a year for this procedure to happen.

16:05

Speaker A

The system itself can process. And this bill could fix this process, as far as I understand. Yes, exactly, you’re right about that. If this bill is passed and the provision is introduced that the decision enters into force immediately, then the need

16:24

Speaker A

said, 90%of cases—are test cases in pension disputes. And the appellate courts...There is official statistics from the Council of Judges of Ukraine or the State Judicial Administration stating that in pension disputes, 88% ...No, 89%of appeals are upheld. Well, the decisions remain unchanged.

16:44

Speaker A

To file an appeal—especially since about 90% of appeals are filed by pension funds—disappears. And why are they filed? Because the Pension Fund knows that as long as the appellate court hasn't reviewed the case, they aren't obligated to execute the court's

16:57

Speaker A

doesn't necessarily mean a rejection of the claim. It could be just some minor cosmetic change.

17:03

Speaker A

Decision. And accordingly, all this time while the case sits in the appe...

17:19

Speaker A

relevant for the many pension disputes. Review. Well, court rulings should take legal effect starting from the first instance. Look, here is what an exemplary case ruling actually is. It is a decision made by the Supreme Court as a court of first instance in mass

17:33

Speaker A

cases occurring across Ukraine. The judges make one exemplary ruling, and all other judges use it as a reference.

17:39

Speaker A

I mean, how, well, how can a judge work if the Supreme Court has to account for this and just select which cases it applies to? Well, obviously, a judge's work is not that simple. By the way, there is currently

17:51

Speaker A

a major shortage of judges, as far as I know. And you know, that is not surprising.

17:55

Speaker A

Not surprising. It is a targeted policy by certain officials and possibly some state institutions. Why? Because of the harassment aimed at judges, and the stereotypes that are pinned on them. In reality, many people simply do not want to go there now,

18:09

Speaker A

yes, many conscious people do not want to become judges because a label is immediately pinned on them as bribe-takers, and they are immediately put under a microscope regarding what they drive, where they live, and everything else. They go looking for

18:21

Speaker A

skeletons in the closet. In our society , over the last 10 years, the status of a judge has been lowered so much that they are now scared and wary. Those who are already in the system, obviously, are hanging on somehow. But new,

18:34

Speaker A

experienced, authoritative, and smart people will think twice about whether it is worth going there. Uh, again, answering the question, you asked me how I assess the prospects of it being passed? Yes. I wanted to ask, yes, returning to our question, do you think

18:51

Speaker A

the deputies will vote for it or not? You know, if this bill is given proper support and promotion within the walls of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, then I think they will vote for it. Right.

19:07

Speaker A

Well, let's ask our subscribers. Dear subscribers, please support us, at least leave a like, and share this with your friends. This is an important bill that will significantly simplify the lives of hundreds of thousands of pensioners. Even if you do not belong

19:21

Speaker A

to this category, it could happen at any moment, or your relatives and loved ones might. Let’s help them. So, like and share, and we will continue our analysis. Uh, look, it depends on the deputies now, right? Well, that is, the

19:38

Speaker A

bill exists, you have done your part of the work, you submitted it, you explained it, and now it all depends on whether they pass it or not. Uh, what are the alternatives? People are currently taking things to court, yes,

19:51

Speaker A

going through all these stages, especially regarding non-payment of funds. I'm asking you this now as an attorney, because before it was more as a PhD and co-author of a bill, but now specifically as an attorney. What alternatives is your firm adopting at

20:08

Speaker A

this stage to make things better and easier for people right now as they carry out these actions? First off, it all started with classic legal practice back in 2018, when the number of disputes with the Pension Fund began to

20:27

Speaker A

grow significantly, and it all started with military pensions. Back then, we looked at this problem exclusively as lawyers, searching for case law ourselves; we found it and followed it.

20:42

Speaker A

Meaning, in the first years of our work , we didn't even think it was possible to reach the Supreme Court on our own and shape case law in areas where it didn't even exist yet. But as our number of clients started to grow, we

20:57

Speaker A

realized, based on certain positive reviews online and on our YouTube channel, that people were actually listening to us. We started believing in our own strength, that is, in the fact that we are truly doing a good deed. And not just believing; I always

21:14

Speaker A

knew that a lawyer first and foremost represents the client's interests and aims to provide a service that fulfills their needs or restores their violated rights. And in our case, essentially, every one of our court decisions equals money, right? People are paid

21:34

Speaker A

additional funds. They get their pensions assigned or recalculated. It's not just some random money we found a way to get somewhere. It is provided for by law. It's just that it has to be done through the court. And we started

21:47

Speaker A

to realize that perhaps a single lawsuit isn't the only way, well, to achieve that goal, that result. And if you recall, in March 2024, we held a roundtable.

22:04

Speaker A

Yes. I apologize, I will interrupt you for a second. There, at the conclusion of the roundtable. And now we'll find a place to edit in the question about increasing all pensions. Yes, to somehow convey this to the Pension Fund

22:18

Speaker A

. Are there influential people here, as you mentioned regarding the Pension Fund's 66 billion debt due to court rulings? And couldn't this be resolved directly at the judge-to-Pension Fund level? For example, there are these test cases that are won using templates

22:37

Speaker A

, so that a judge could come to the Pension Fund and say, here is a template where you are clearly calculating incorrectly. You don't even need to change anything there, because the court already has a ready-made decision according to which the

22:48

Speaker A

recalculation is performed. And so that there are no such debts in the future. I realize this will, well, take work away from people like Vanya, for instance, because, well, the number of cases will decrease, but it will happen

23:01

Speaker A

automatically. So, are we ready now to move from discussion to action? Who could convey this? I could take on, uh, well, the media side of this issue. And is there anyone ready who could take on , uh, the role of intermediary to

23:21

Speaker A

actually ensure that we see some action , so that the cases that are won become precedents, so they are immediately incorporated by the Pension Fund as a rule for calculation and fully eliminate these aspects of, uh, wrongful calculation and fairness in

23:39

Speaker A

the future? Thank you very much for the question. I think I can even pass the floor to Mr.

23:46

Speaker A

Ivan Khomych instead of our roundtable moderator to answer. He is the head of the Hoboro law firm, which deals directly with court cases.

23:55

Speaker A

Uh, yes, thank you for the question. Well, I’ll start, I’ll start from the end, I suppose. I think that the cooperation and communication with you, and the opportunity to interact with your audience on the "Narodna Dumka" channel, definitely gave me, uh, a

24:11

Speaker A

certain sense of self-belief and perhaps a certain weight of responsibility. Because when you are talking to a million-person audience, you can no longer just, as a lawyer, say, "We’re drafting lawsuits, come to us, we’ll recalculate everything for you, and it will be great." And I

24:29

Speaker A

remember the roundtable in March 2024. We held it—we, our law firm, and the NGO we cooperate with. This roundtable was called "Realizing the Right to a Pension," well, in Ukraine in general.

24:44

Speaker A

And there, we raised issues at that time; that is, we had already moved beyond just classical legal practice into a certain public space and certain initiatives. We raised a number of problematic issues among retirees in general. There were displaced persons,

25:03

Speaker A

and there were denials of pension benefits. Uh, and one of the issues was the improper and incorrect indexation of civil pensions. That was back in '24 . Almost no one was talking about such cases. They weren't in the courts. And

25:18

Speaker A

I, in fact, discovered this issue myself. By the way, it was actually while preparing my dissertation that I saw this problem, that the indexation of civil pensions is not being carried out in the way provided for by law. And

25:32

Speaker A

this leads to a real reduction in the amount of pensions, to the fact that the indexation, uh, essentially leaves a part of retirees outside of the indexation by the government. Part of the retirees. And I highlighted this in

25:44

Speaker A

an article. The article was published right around that same period. And this problematic issue was voiced in the article. Then we discussed it at the roundtable. And now, as we speak today, it is September 2026, and this case,

25:58

Speaker A

this category of cases, is already classified as a model case. You know about this; we have talked about it many times already. But in essence, this path started from an idea that was just part of some academic article.

26:12

Speaker A

Then I believed in it, and I understood that it was indeed true. As a lawyer and head of the firm, I gathered my attorneys and explained that this was a new direction where we could help a large number of people. We're talking

26:29

Speaker A

about almost a million people. They didn't just believe me; they agreed with me. We started telling people about it. And on your channel, we often talked about it and advocated for it.

26:44

Speaker A

And many people believed in us. In 2024 , they joined us in these legal proceedings when there was no Supreme Court precedent yet. We just had an idea, we had a clear understanding that it was all illegal, and we could prove

26:58

Speaker A

it in court. And only in January 2025 did the Supreme Court ruling appear. Back on September 13th, we celebrated it all together, because a large number of followers from "Narodna Dumka" came to us, and a huge number of people

27:15

Speaker A

trusted us. And all of this was realized through Supreme Court practice . Then the Joint Chamber solidified it at the level of model cases. And today, no one even doubts that the indexation is being carried out illegally. No one

27:28

Speaker A

doubts that they will go to court and receive a favorable court decision. This has already become, so to speak, the norm. Now there is a different problem. The problem is how to get the money, which was calculated based on

27:37

Speaker A

the court decision, from the Pension Fund. So perhaps this is exactly what you are talking about regarding alternative options, or some alternative form or side of our activity as a law firm, not just as lawyers who use established templates,

27:53

Speaker A

precedents, and everything else. For us , the indexation of civilian pensions has gone from an idea that perhaps originated from an unconventional academic perspective to something that is now routine, model cases, and no one even doubts it anymore. All judges and

28:12

Speaker A

all lawyers dealing with pension cases know about this category and that they are model cases. And I believe that this is an achievement.

28:18

Speaker A

And they are winning them, it turns out , by following the path we paved. They are just going and winning these cases now. Well, just like with any other model cases. Yes, but that is exactly how it is. So we are proud of this; it

28:28

Speaker A

is our accomplishment. I believe it's a mix of all these alternative forms and facets of our work. But actually, I’d like to note that we are likely experiencing and seeing something similar to when we dealt with pension indexation back then. In principle, we

28:49

Speaker A

see an option to fight all these obstacles that the government, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, is currently creating in the form of You mean the non-payment of court-ordered amounts?

29:02

Speaker A

Yes. Yes. So, there is Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 821 , which the court overturned. Now 1046 was adopted on August 19th, 2026. So these are the resolutions that where they don't pay people. full pensions, they only pay portions, put everyone in

29:20

Speaker A

a queue, and for special pensioners, they only hand out 100 UAH of the debt.

29:25

Speaker A

I mean, and most importantly, their current pension isn't being paid. We see an option to create, you know, a certain standard, a standard of judicial decision in these disputes. We see a goal that we will strive for, I

29:39

Speaker A

think, even through the Supreme Court, so that the court, when writing in its decision to recalculate or assign a pension, adds the wording: "and pay the amount of the accrued pension from general expenditures in the Pension Fund of Ukraine budget for the specific

29:55

Speaker A

type of pension." What does what does that give people? Well, in our conviction, such a court decision gives people a way around all these limited expenditures that everyone is currently being funneled into.

30:08

Speaker A

Meaning, full payment of the pension that the court calculated for you right away. Yes, if there is such wording, I believe the Pension Fund of Ukraine won't be able to avoid paying it, because it clearly states where to get

30:20

Speaker A

the money for people's pensions. And it would be taken from those expenditure items that are protected and will always be replenished. I mean, information just appeared yesterday, right, that they are allocating eight hundred-something million dollars for payments, well, from loans, from donor

30:39

Speaker A

money, from international support for pension payments financed by the state budget. That is precisely that protected expenditure item, and the state will find money for it anyway.

30:51

Speaker A

They will take it, increase expenditures from the state budget, take out a loan, because it’s a pension payment. And not paying a pension is the last thing the state can do in relation to its citizens. And when the court writes this into its

31:09

Speaker A

decision, the Pension Fund will have to take money from these expenditure items that are always replenished, regardless of how much spending is provided for.

31:18

Speaker A

This is how it was before this 821st resolution. You re— it used to work that way before, then then they changed it, and that’s what you are trying to fight now.

31:28

Speaker A

Yes, we are essentially not reinventing the wheel. We want to bring things back to the way they were. When you open the Pension Fund budget and compare, for example, the Pension Fund budget and all the expenditures that existed in

31:38

Speaker A

2024 with the 2025 or 2026 figures after these changes occurred. Four new items appeared there: payment of current pensions based on court rulings , and payment of retrospective arrears based on court rulings. And they are duplicated in both the solidarity

31:56

Speaker A

system and pensions funded from the state budget. So we are saying: "Do not pay our pensions from those four expenditure items you invented and introduced; pay from the general expenditures you used in 2024." Yes. Well, it's just that,

32:10

Speaker A

essentially, if you break it down to the molecular level, it is elementary and simple; the key is for judges to agree to this. For now, this is our idea, our line of thought, but I think that when judges fully realize that

32:23

Speaker A

their court ruling without this wording is just a piece of paper, they will gradually, of course, until it reaches the Supreme Court...Once the Supreme Court adopts something like this, it is clear that everyone else will immediately adopt it without any

32:38

Speaker A

hesitation, because judges of the first instance and appellate courts, they... are afraid to be the first in such cases. Returning to the very beginning of our interview. It is great to be a judge when there are Supreme Court

32:53

Speaker A

rulings. Yes, when there is no Supreme Court ruling, it is much tougher, but when it is already there, everything is so clear and smooth. You just take it, plug in the name and the pension amount , and the rest of the template remains

33:09

Speaker A

essentially the Supreme Court ruling. That's how it is, Sasha. In reality, most judges are waiting for a Supreme Court precedent and then work based on it. To give you an idea, or rather, for you to understand, regarding the

33:21

Speaker A

indexation of civilian pensions—I can talk about this now—there was a moment in December 2024 when we had thousands of lawsuits filed, thousands of lawsuits regarding the indexation of civilian pensions. And we look at the statistics. About 80%of us of all the

33:40

Speaker A

rulings we received were denials regarding the indexation of civilian pensions. Judges were denying indexation.

33:48

Speaker A

They didn't know what to do with them. How is that? No, they were denying them. They took some template from some appellate court somewhere, I don't remember where. And they just used that "dummy," that template, without thinking, and simply

34:01

Speaker A

copied it to issue denials. And in truth, it was very scary. Thousands and thousands of clients who trusted us, and we were receiving negative court rulings for them. So, in December, you know, the atmosphere in our company wasn't very good. And this January

34:20

Speaker A

decision in '25, it just, as they say, everyone exhaled and understood. But when you read that decision, you realize that, yes, if it could have been different, it would have been different. And as you say, judges are afraid to make decisions on their own,

34:35

Speaker A

to think for themselves in most cases; yes, the first instance is simply guided by Supreme Court precedents.

34:41

Speaker A

That’s how it is. There are few, I don't mean just thinkers, but those who want to figure things out and make a decision, even if there is no sample case from the Supreme Court. Well, here , you know, summing up our huge

34:56

Speaker A

interview, I think it will bring a lot of benefit to people and they will understand where this whole situation is moving. I want, first of all, to wish all lawyers to take an example from Ivan Khomych's law firm and go

35:12

Speaker A

defend their doctorates, develop, and immerse themselves in this. Alternatives are found there, some options that no one knew about before.

35:24

Speaker A

And likewise for judges, to read and think carefully, because this is the fate of people, the fate of pensioners, this is their pension. And, well, if things can be better, then why not give these people a chance to receive more,

35:38

Speaker A

to live better, especially since it is their honestly earned money. And you, Ivan, I want to shake your hand for such decisions. I follow your activities very actively and I see that indexation is your firm, the cancellation of 821, those bills,

35:59

Speaker A

although this is not your area at all, well, you are also present there. In other words, this is a very long path and a very great painstaking work that needs to be done, thought through, and presented correctly so that it later

36:15

Speaker A

serves the benefit of our people and our pensioners. Therefore, once again, huge gratitude to you from the entire " Narodna Dumka" team, and from all the subscribers, I think, as well. And what would you like to say in conclusion?

36:30

Speaker A

Let’s move away from—we have already addressed you as a lawyer, as a Doctor of Philosophy, as a co-author of a bill. And here, just humanly, reach out to our subscribers, and what would you say to them? I am very glad that it

36:52

Speaker A

happened that I work specifically in the field of pension law, because in reality I have the opportunity to improve, at my level, maybe not for all pensioners, but I have the opportunity to improve the standard of living of

37:11

Speaker A

pensioners through recalculation and sometimes even the assignment of a pension. And I am proud that our firm creates trends that millions of citizens later use, and indeed they recalculate pensions through indexation of civil pensions and other recalculations. And in principle,

37:33

Speaker A

regarding other cases, we win a large number of cases and we help. Uh, because I want to thank you for your trust. The number of clients reaching out to us is proof that you trust us.

37:50

Speaker A

And for us, that is a great responsibility. And believe me, we are doing everything so that the result you are looking for is the absolute maximum for you. We can't influence everything, but believe me, we feel your trust, and

38:08

Speaker A

we cherish it. And thank you, Oleksandr , for giving me the opportunity to communicate with people on such a scale with your audience. And I believe that our collaboration has truly maximized the number of people we have been able

38:30

Speaker A

to reach. Because in reality, many of us see and fall into that category, right, of those who could be affected by indexation, those whose rulings aren't being enforced and have resigned themselves to it, or other issues, but they don't dare to turn to us or other

38:47

Speaker A

lawyers, and just live with the current situation. And in every broadcast, in every video, we have to reach out and convey to people that this needs to be done, and that you have a legal and fair right to it. And indeed,

38:59

Speaker A

collaborating with you has likely allowed me and our firm to grow from just lawyers into, in principle, people and a structure that is already slightly, just a little bit, influencing the state's micropolitics.

39:19

Speaker A

Because truly, as you say, it all started just from an idea about indexation, then grew into Supreme Court practice. The resolution on the 821st resolution, that case was also very high-profile, even if it didn't yield the result everyone expected yet,

39:37

Speaker A

but I am convinced that the result will come later. And our draft laws, which we have started writing, are also a new experience for us. It is also very exciting and responsible. We'll see what comes of it. So thank you for the

39:52

Speaker A

trust. That is probably the main message I want to tell our citizens and our viewers today. I wanted to end on that, but listening to you, I have one more logical question. Uh, is this essentially your first draft law where

40:11

Speaker A

you participated as a co-author, or not ? Were there any before this? I prepared another draft law, but I don't know if it has been submitted by anyone yet. Uh, it might also be submitted by Mr. Kozhemiakin. I sent it, uh, but so

40:29

Speaker A

far, well, this one is the first one registered. Do you have any plans or ideas, since you were a pioneer in this, to use these small steps to change the entire philosophy of the pension system so that it moves in a better direction?

40:51

Speaker A

Well, that's a serious question. You know, every year—I've been working in pension law for over 10 years now, quite fruitfully, and a large number of cases pass through my hands. So, the experience is quite extensive. I understand that a certain level of

41:08

Speaker A

knowledge is already forming. At first, it was practical knowledge, but now it has been layered with a scientific level. You know, if I were involved in the process of discussing or developing a new pension system for Ukraine, I

41:24

Speaker A

would gladly participate as some kind of consultant or assistant, because I want to be involved in creating something so that my parents, in particular, could have a predictable and, ideally, secure old age. So the desire is there, but I don't want to

41:46

Speaker A

change my role. That is, I want to remain as I am now: a mix of an attorney, a public figure, and a scholar. From this exact position, not becoming a deputy, yes, not going into politics, because I would probably have to take on that

42:03

Speaker A

path. If you go, we could collaborate on draft laws, and I would be your assistant, but that's—no, that's politics again.

42:11

Speaker A

No, I will just— Actually, I also don't really want to get into that; I have no desire at all.

42:17

Speaker A

But I do want to see life improve right now. That's why we do these broadcasts.

42:25

Speaker A

That is why we provide you, our dear subscribers, with information so that you can draw conclusions, stand up for yourselves, and receive the highest possible pension you can. Uh, so we hope that the bill will appear for a

42:41

Speaker A

vote in the near future, that it will be passed, both this one and possibly the second one. If both were passed together, that would be absolutely ideal. Perhaps some reforms are already on the way there. We are actively

42:56

Speaker A

monitoring that as well. So, thank you once again for your work. Thank you to all the viewers for watching us until the end. And goodbye. See you next time . Goodbye.

Topics: pension reform pension payments court decisions legal enforcement Pension Fund Ukraine Ivan Khomych bill 15588 pensioners rights Ukrainian law pension recalculation

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