The former head of the Economic Security Bureau’s (BES) operational department in the Lviv region, Roman Mud, has filed a lawsuit demanding compensation of 1.3 million hryvnias, even though he voluntarily left the position.
The former BES official believes that 1.3 million hryvnias were underpaid due to incorrectly calculated salaries for almost three years while he was employed there.
Mud requests the court to deem the BES’s actions unlawful regarding the calculation and payment of monetary support to the plaintiff without applying the living wage for able-bodied individuals from 01.12.2022 at the rate of 2684.00 UAH, in 2023 - at the rate of 2684.00 UAH, in 2024 - at the rate of 3028.00 UAH, in 2025 - at the rate of 302.00 UAH. He also requests to declare unlawful the BES’s actions regarding the formation of the monetary certificate based on the monetary support calculation using the living wage for able-bodied persons at a rate of 2102 UAH;
In early October, the media published an investigation into the enrichment of Mud’s family after his appointment to the BES position. A few weeks before this investigation was published, he resigned from his position as the head of the BES’s operational department in the Lviv region at his own request. After his resignation, Mud filed a lawsuit, seeking monetary compensation from the territorial office of the BES. He believes that during almost three years of working at the BES, he was underpaid approximately 1.3 million UAH due to incorrect salary calculation principles.
BES employees, like other public sector employees, have their salaries calculated based on the size of the living wage, which is determined annually during the formation of the state budget. In Roman Mud’s lawsuit, it was stated that during 2022-2025, while calculating his salary, the BES applied a living wage rate of 2102 UAH instead of the full living wage for able-bodied persons, which amounted to 2684 UAH until the end of 2023 and rose to 3028 UAH as of January 1, 2024.
Currently, the Lviv Administrative Court has accepted Roman Mud’s lawsuit for consideration. The territorial office of the BES estimated that if the court satisfies the claim, it will have to pay around 1.3 million UAH in compensation.