Expansion of benefits for utility services for citizens of Ukraine in 2025: new conditions and categories of recipients

From January 1, 2025, new conditions for providing benefits for payment of housing and communal services came into force in Ukraine, according to which benefits will be provided to citizens taking into account the average monthly income of the family. The government adopted the relevant resolution No. 1553 on December 31, 2024, which expands the list of persons who will be entitled to such benefits.

According to the resolution, benefits for utility services will be provided to those citizens whose average monthly income per person does not exceed 4,240 hryvnias for the previous six months. This means that benefits will be calculated taking into account the total income of the family, which will make the assistance system more targeted and fair.

Also in 2025, benefits for housing and communal services will be provided to certain categories of citizens, including rehabilitated persons who became disabled due to repression, as well as pensioners who became victims of such events. The preferential categories also include persons affected by the Chernobyl disaster, as well as their relatives - wives, husbands and guardians of children of deceased persons whose death is associated with the consequences of this disaster.

In addition, benefits will be provided to families of military personnel who died or went missing while performing their duties, as well as veterans of military service and law enforcement agencies. This decision also applies to widows of veterans, participants of World War II, survivors of concentration camps, as well as deported persons who have reached retirement age or are disabled.

According to the innovations, the changes come into force for persons who apply for benefits from January 1, 2025. For those who were previously granted benefits, they will continue to operate until the end of the 2024-2025 heating season, that is, until April 30, 2025. This will allow preserving benefits for many citizens who already enjoy such benefits during the transition period.

The Pension Fund of Ukraine noted that the new conditions for preferential service are designed to support the most vulnerable categories of the population and reduce the financial burden on them, especially in conditions of increased tariffs for housing and communal services. Accordingly, expanding the list of beneficiaries of benefits will be an important step towards social support and reducing economic difficulties for many Ukrainians.

Such an initiative of the government is part of the country's general social policy aimed at making life easier for people who have found themselves in difficult life circumstances and creating a more effective system for distributing state benefits.