2.7 million per deputy: how much do bonuses for members of parliament cost

2.7 million per deputy: how much do bonuses for members of parliament cost

Up to 2.7 million hryvnias per year — that’s how much it costs the budget for one member of parliament if they take advantage of all the payments provided by law. This is not only the salary, but also monthly «parliamentary» allowances without reporting, compensation for housing rent, salaries for assistants, travel and business trip compensations.

For example, Maksym Buzhanskyi ("Servant of the People") owns two apartments and has half a million dollars in cash but receives compensation for apartment rental. Serhiy Vlasenko ("Batkivshchyna") received a record 1.3 million hryvnias last year in business trip compensation — one-tenth of the budget expenditures for all deputies’ travel. Thus, the minimum amount the state spends on a deputy is 1.3 million hryvnias per year.

What all these expenses include and how the system works is detailed in Angelina Kapitula’s blog.