Wage arrears reduced by 111.8 million UAH in 2013

Since March 2013, wage arrears in Ukraine have been reduced by 10% or by 111.8 million UAH. This was reported by Natalia Korolevskaya, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, during a meeting of Commission for Settlement of Arrears on Wages, Pensions, and other Social Payments, the Information-Analytical Bulletin of the cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine informs.

According to analysts at Ministry of Social Policy, the number of businesses with arrears was significantly reduced: today, they are 571 less than at the beginning of the year. Positive dynamics also developed in companies subordinate to central executive bodies. Here, experts note the positive dynamics in settlement of payment arrears.

So, since the beginning of 2013, the amount of debt of state enterprises has been decreased by 7.3% or 31.4 million UAH. In particular, according to weekly monitoring of the Ministry, as of December 2, 2013, the amount debt balance was 428.6 million UAH and falling.

The highest level of debt is observed at enterprises of State Concern Ukroboronprom, State Property Fund, Ministry of Industrial Policy, Ministry of Coal and Energy, Ministry of Infrastructure, and 10 other central executive bodies. To that date, wage arrears of those companies were 99.2% of the total.

It must be noted that Ministry of Social Policy recently presented a package of priority measures to enhance social protection of citizens. One unit of the package included urgent initiatives to ensure repayment of wage arrears. A draft decree has been actually agreed by central executive bodies and sent for Cabinet’s review.

Also, legalization of employment is among main priorities of the subject document, as unofficially employed workers deprive themselves of the right to social protection, safe working conditions, and decent pension. Experts estimate the annual wages "in envelopes" as 200 billion UAH.