Zelensky's 1,000 will be available starting December 1. Here's how to take advantage of it.

How to Receive the Money?

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the initiative to distribute funds during one of his daily addresses. He dedicated this address to the preparations for winter and the heating season. According to him, to support Ukrainians, he instructed the government to implement a new program starting December 1: to give each person one thousand hryvnias.

“The ‘єПідтримка’ program is for all our people — adults, children, every family in Ukraine. One thousand hryvnias per person means several thousand hryvnias for a family,” Zelensky stated.

Only Ukrainians residing abroad or in temporarily occupied territories will not receive the funds. Verification is expected to occur through the user’s geolocation in the “Дія” app.

The announced thousand will be credited to a “National Cashback” card, meaning there is no need to open a new card specifically for these funds. Applications for the thousand can be submitted through “Дія.”

Moreover, the Ministry of Economy is working on ways for people to receive money without smartphones or access to “Дія.” It is said that this could be done through “Ukrposhta” branches.

Regarding children, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that one of the parents could request the payment for their child to their own card.

What and When Can the Money Be Spent On?

The money can be spent on:

• Ukrainian goods and services (likely referring to products registered in the “National Cashback” program);
• medications;
• books;
• clothing;
• bus and train tickets;
• mobile services;
• utilities;
• supporting the Ukrainian army by donating to the charitable accounts of the Security and Defense Forces or volunteer funds.

The funds are planned to be distributed by the end of February. Ukrainians will be able to spend the money in 2025.

Why is the Government Distributing Money?

The Cabinet of Ministers hopes that the payments will benefit the Ukrainian economy. Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev believes that this will additionally support Ukrainian micro and small businesses.

The need to introduce a support package is also explained by the rising consumer prices — primarily utility tariffs and food costs. The National Bank expects that by the end of the year, the consumer price growth rate will reach 9.7% before slowing down in 2025.

“In the context of a challenging winter and rising inflation, the Ukrainian government, at the initiative of the president, is gradually implementing a series of programs and measures aimed at further supporting Ukrainians,” clarified hromadske in the Cabinet.

Where Will the Money Come From and What Will It Cost the Country?

People's Deputy and member of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk explained that the funds for the 1000 hryvnia payments to Ukrainians will be sourced from international partners' aid.

“Why not give it to the army, to drones?” commenters reacted with outrage regarding the “money distribution” news.

The government explains that when international partners provide financial assistance to Ukraine, they always set a number of conditions for the use of those funds. One of those conditions is a ban on using the funds for military needs.

The money for the program that will distribute one thousand hryvnias will be redirected from the program financing the “National Cashback.” This year, 5 billion hryvnias will be allocated from the state budget for “Winter Support” for Ukrainians, and in 2025, it will be 10 billion hryvnias.

Chair of the Budget Committee of the Verkhovna Rada Roksolana Pidlasa informed Forbes that the government proposed to finance this program using the Unemployment Fund's resources.

Earlier this year, this fund transferred 10 billion hryvnias to a special fund of the state budget to implement the Ministry of Economy's business support programs.

Of this amount, 9.3 billion remained unspent. These funds will be used to cover the thousand until the end of 2024. It is possible that this program will be extended to 2025, depending on the number of people who wish to receive the money, noted the head of the budget committee.

“When they say that 30 million people will take 1000 hryvnias and it will cost 30 billion hryvnias, I disagree. I think it will be much less. It’s still unclear how the ‘thousand’ will be credited to children. If it goes to the parents' card, then 15 million is a realistic estimate,” said Pidlasa.

Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev reminded that the “support” during the coronavirus pandemic, when people also received 1000 hryvnias, cost the state about 8 billion hryvnias.

How Did Ukrainians React to the News of Aid?

The announcement of the thousand came amid a decision to raise taxes, which already provoked a wave of outrage. Because, on one hand, authorities are increasing taxes for businesses, while on the other, they are distributing funds to the population.

The distribution of money is the worst signal that the government can send during a war, believes senior economist of the Center for Economic Strategy Yuriy Haidai.

“Many people perceive this as inconsistency from the government. Initially, the budget lacks funds, taxes need to be raised. Then, an unreasonable tax increase is adopted — only for those who work ‘legally.’ And even if this law has not yet been signed, it looks like: we take from those who honestly work and pay taxes to later distribute to everyone,” emphasizes Haidai.

He also criticizes the decision to pay aid to everyone, arguing that if this is social assistance, it should be targeted — for those who genuinely need it: internally displaced persons, pensioners, veterans, and others.

Investment banker Serhiy Fursa described the announced payments as populism and ineffective resource spending. He predicts that such “throwing money” could lead to inflation.

Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development Yaroslav Rushyshyn believes that such an initiative teaches Ukrainians to receive money for nothing. According to the deputy, these funds could be better spent on investments or targeted assistance to low-income populations.

Economist Volodymyr Vakhtov stated that he does not see negativity in distributing money to Ukrainians. In his opinion, part of it will go towards paying utility bills, potentially reducing household debts, while some will return to the budget through taxes.

“I will be unpopular… My rough calculation suggests that in the worst case, the effect is economically neutral, but… electoral,” reflects the economist.

Deputy from the “Servant of the People” party Yevheniya Kravchuk states that the initiative will support the Ukrainian book market. In 2021, during the “єПідтримка” program, Ukrainians spent over 1 billion hryvnias from the “COVID thousand” specifically on books, the parliamentarian reminds. She notes that now the industry could receive 15% of all allocated funds — about 4-5 billion hryvnias.

Ukrainians generally reacted negatively to the president's initiative. According to data from a social survey by Active Group, 38.9% of respondents were surprised, 27.3% were irritated, and another 26% felt shame after hearing the news.

70.8% indicated that their financial situation would not change at all after receiving the thousand hryvnias.

On the president's website, a petition was even registered asking to cancel or reconsider the program of paying Ukrainians one thousand hryvnias. The petition gathered 25 thousand votes in two weeks. This means it must be reviewed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The petition's author, Roman Stan, argues that the proposed program has several shortcomings. One of them is the lack of targeting. It is also not entirely clear where the funds will come from, and the effectiveness of such a program is quite questionable.

“This has Happened Before”

The idea of one-time cash payments from the government to Ukrainians is not new at all. The announced payment has already been nicknamed “Vova’s thousand” — similar to “Yulia’s” and “Vita’s.”

In 2008, then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko promised 1000 hryvnias to all depositors of “Oschadbank