Payments for the National Cashback Program Suspended Due to Lack of Funding
For the past two months, Ukrainians have not received funds from the “National Cashback” program. The last payments were made in September, albeit with significant delays, and there have been no further disbursements since then.
This is reported by AgroReview
Reasons for Payment Delays
Program participants report that the last tranche related to July purchases was received only at the beginning of September, although it was supposed to arrive by the end of August. Meanwhile, the August payments are still in “processing” status, even though it is already November.
It has been revealed that the delay in payments is linked to a lack of funds in the state budget. Initially, the government planned to allocate funding from the reserve fund, but there were no necessary resources available there either.
Government Promises and New Initiatives
The Ministry of Finance has stated that a decision on additional funding has already been made, so the funds are expected to appear on recipients’ cards soon. However, officials have not yet specified any concrete timelines for the payments.
The Ministry assures that a decision on the allocation of funds has been made. Money is expected to soon arrive on Ukrainians’ cards. However, officials are in no hurry to clarify when exactly this will happen. A classic situation: there is a promise, but no date.
At the same time, the government has announced new support programs. Among them is a one-time payment of 1000 hryvnias for all interested parties, a one-time assistance of 6500 hryvnias for socially vulnerable citizens, as well as the possibility of free train travel for distances up to 3000 kilometers.
The estimated costs for these initiatives, according to government calculations, will amount to 14 billion hryvnias. However, experts express doubts about the sufficiency of this amount. Last year, 14.4 million Ukrainians received 1000 hryvnias, which cost the budget 14.4 billion hryvnias — just one program effectively exhausts the declared funding volume.
Particular attention is drawn to the announced program of free travel by “Ukrzaliznytsia”. According to the presentation, its implementation is not expected to place additional burdens on the budget. However, currently, the railway’s losses are compensated directly from the state treasury, which raises questions about the transparency of such calculations.
While Ukrainians await payments from the “National Cashback” program, the issue of funding remains unresolved. Citizens are expecting the fulfillment of promises, as delays in the return of their own funds negatively affect trust in state social initiatives.