3 September 2025

On 3 September 2025, during the open part of the plenary session in the form of written proceedings, the First Senate considered the case based on the constitutional complaint of Pavlo Nevmerzhytsky.

During the plenary session, the judge-rapporteur in the case, Oksana Hryshchuk, presented the content of the constitutional complaint and the applicant's arguments.

The judge informed that the complainant had appealed to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to verify the compliance of Articles 45.1, 45.2 of the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025” No. 4059-IX dated 19 November 2024 (hereinafter,  “Law No. 4059”) with the Constitution of Ukraine. 

The disputed provisions of Law No. 4059 establish that “in 2025, for the period of martial law in Ukraine, additional payments to unemployed pensioners who permanently reside in the zone of unconditional (mandatory) relocation and in the zone of guaranteed voluntary relocation, shall be established provided that such persons resided or worked in the zone of unconditional (mandatory) relocation or in the zone of guaranteed voluntary relocation as of 26 April 1986 or during the period from 26 April 1986 to 1 January 1993, in connection with which the person was granted the status of a person affected by the Chornobyl disaster. The additional payment for living in the said territories is set at 2,361 UAH.

Individuals who, after the accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (26 April 1986), independently or in accordance with the procedure established by law, on the instructions of regional state administrations, changed their place of residence outside the zones of unconditional (mandatory) relocation or guaranteed voluntary relocation and subsequently returned to their permanent place of residence in these zones, as well as persons who registered their place of residence or moved to a permanent place of residence in the specified zones after the accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, no additional payment for living in such zones shall be established.

From the content of the constitutional complaint and the materials attached to it, it appears that Pavlo Nevmerzhytsky is a pensioner who does not work, is registered with the Central Administration of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Zhytomyr region (hereinafter, the “Administration”), has the status of a person affected by the Chornobyl disaster and lives in a settlement classified as a zone of radioactive contamination as a result of the Chornobyl disaster.

He filed a lawsuit to the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court against the Administration, in which, in particular, he requested that the Administration be obliged to appoint and make monthly calculations and payments of a “pension increase” in the amount specified in Article 39 of the Law of Ukraine “On Status and Social Protection of Population Suffered from Chornobyl Catastrophe” No. 796-XII (hereinafter, “Law No. 796”), equal to two minimum wages (in accordance with the law on the State Budget of Ukraine for the respective year).

The Zhytomyr District Administrative Court denied his claim, citing the provisions of Article 45 of Law No. 4059, and stated that as of 1 January 2025, the procedure for calculating and paying “pension increases” had changed.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the conclusions of the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court, dismissed the applicant's complaint, and left the decision of the court of first instance unchanged. The Supreme Court refused to open cassation proceedings for the applicant.

According to the author of the complaint, the contested provisions of Article 45 of the Law applied by the courts in his case are unconstitutional since, in particular, they deprive pensioners who do not work and who live in the zone of unconditional (mandatory) relocation and in the zone of guaranteed voluntary relocation of the right to property in the form of a pension supplement and do not allow even the minimum necessary compensation for the damage caused to their health; they do not comply with the principle of legal certainty and violate the legitimate expectations of these persons to receive the relevant supplements; they contradict the constitutional principle of equality, as they establish discrimination against persons on the basis of “status and permanent residence since 01.01.1993”.

The Court examined the materials of the case and proceeded to the in-camera part of the plenary session.

The video recording of the plenary session is available on the Court's official website under the heading “Archive of video broadcasts of sessions”.