Draft bill #11407 of July 16, 2024 

Sponsor: the Cabinet of Ministers 

Status: sent for review to the Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence 

Who is affected: service members and their families 

Summary: 

  • service members will have the option to submit personal requests for their payments to be transferred to persons of their choice in the event of their capture or disappearance 
  • personal requests are to be drawn up in free form in writing 
  • the procedure for registration and storage of such requests will be defined by the Cabinet of Ministers separately 
  • if there is no personal request and the service member is captured, their payments will be transferred to: 
    • wife (husband) 
    • legal representatives of minor or underage children, disabled children of any age 
    • parents 
  • if the persons listed above are absent, the payments will be transferred to: 
    • adult children 
    • siblings 
    • individuals for whom the service member is a legal representative 
  • in case of the death of a service member or if they are declared deceased by a court, the due and unpaid payments will be included in the inheritance 
  • payments will not be provided for children, parents, and other individuals receiving alimony from the service member, as well as parents deprived of parental rights, provided that these rights have not been restored 
  • requests by service members who voluntarily surrendered, deserted, or abandoned their places of service will be annulled. 

What is right: the bill will protect the rights of service members to personally manage their money. A service member entitled to their monetary compensation will be able to independently determine which family members (or other persons) will receive their money in case of their disappearance or capture. 

Background information: in March 2024, a law was passed allowing service members to submit a personal written request regarding the transfer of their payments to individuals of their choice in the event of their death and specify the share amount. 

On May 14, the Cabinet adopted a resolution defining the mechanism for registering, transferring, and storing such personal requests. 

Additional information: 

  • article by Iryna Korzhenkova: Financial support should be realistic: experience with Chornobyl state assistance 
  • article by Oksana Zabolotna: Mobilization anew: how will the adopted bill work?