Almost 548,000 people have had their pension payments put on hold due to an error by the Pension Fund of Ukraine: how to get your pension money back

An internally displaced person from the Donetsk region had submitted several applications to claim his accrued pension funds, but the documents were not processed due to a technical error. Following the intervention of the Ombudsman’s Office, the Pension Fund reconsidered the application and paid the man 547,861.12 UAH.

A similar situation may arise for other internally displaced pensioners whose funds were previously returned by Oschadbank to the Pension Fund. Important: the mere fact that the bank has returned the money does not deprive a person of their right to it. Let’s look at who this mechanism applies to, where to submit an application, when the money should arrive, and what to do if the application gets ‘stuck’.

Details

What happened

According to a statement from the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, a pensioner named Oleksandr left the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast. Once his pension payments resumed, he was due to receive the funds that had previously accumulated in his bank account but had subsequently been returned by Oschadbank to the Pension Fund.

The man repeatedly submitted the necessary applications via the Pension Fund’s web portal, but they were not processed due to a technical error. Following an appeal to the Ombudsman, the Pension Fund re-examined the documents and processed the application. As a result, the pensioner was paid 547,861.12 UAH.

Who might this apply to?

This does not apply to all pensioners, nor to any unused balance on a bank card. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 745 sets out a special mechanism for internally displaced pensioners, whose payments were or are being made to accounts at Oschadbank in accordance with the rules for internally displaced persons and whose pension funds were returned by the bank to the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

The amount returned is recorded in the electronic pension record. The recipient retains ownership of the accrued pension funds to which they were entitled.

If you are unsure whether money has been returned from your account to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, it is advisable to enquire directly with the Pension Fund and check whether the returned amount is reflected in your electronic pension record.

How to claim the money: three main methods

To receive the payment, you must submit an application for the repayment of the returned sum. The law provides for several channels:

1. In person at the Pension Fund. You can submit your application at a local Pension Fund office.
2. Online. The application can be submitted via the Pension Fund’s e-services web portal. Resolution No. 745 also provides for submission via the Unified State Web Portal for Electronic Services, provided the technical capability and an electronic signature are available.
3. Via Oschadbank. When applying at the bank, you must submit the application and a document proving your identity. The bank carries out physical identification and must forward the application to the Pension Fund of Ukraine electronically within five calendar days.

If pension payments have already been resumed, the refunded funds are transferred to the account at an authorised bank into which the pension is paid, or to the account specified in the application. If there are no grounds for resuming the current pension, the regulation provides for the payment of the refunded amount following the person’s physical identification.

When the payment is due

The refunded pension funds are paid in a single instalment and in full. The timeframe depends on the date the application is received:

• if the application is received on or before the 20th — payment must be made within the current month;
• if the application is received after the 20th — in the following month.

It is therefore important to keep proof of submission: the date, application number, electronic receipt or a screenshot from your personal account. If applying via Oschadbank, you should also note the date on which the bank accepted the application.

What to do if the deadline has passed and you haven’t received the money

If you have already submitted your application but the deadline has passed, first contact the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU) and ask them to check not only whether the application was submitted but also its processing status. Alexander’s case shows that the problem may well be technical: the application exists but is not being processed further.

When making your enquiry, have the application number and date, the Pension Fund’s responses, screenshots from your personal account, bank documents and other supporting evidence to hand. The more accurately you can reconstruct the history of your enquiries, the easier it will be to identify at which stage the delay occurred.

The PFU web portal lists the helpline number as 0 800 503 753. If the issue remains unresolved after contacting the Pension Fund, you can contact the Ombudsman: free helpline 1678, for calls from abroad +380 44 299 74 08, or email hotline@ombudsman.gov.ua.

Why this is important

The most important thing a pensioner needs to know is that if money has been returned by Oschadbank to the Pension Fund under this scheme, it is not ‘lost’ and the person’s entitlement to it remains valid. The Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU) must record the returned amount in the electronic pension record and, once the stipulated conditions have been met, pay it out in full.

A practical risk exists not only in the absence of an application but also in a processing error. Therefore, after submitting your application online, it is not enough simply to click a button and wait: save the submission confirmation and monitor the payment deadline. If the money has not arrived on time, check the status of your application; if the issue drags on, keep a record of all correspondence and contact the Human Rights Commissioner.

It is worth noting separately that Order No. 745 applies to a specific category of internally displaced pensioners and specific amounts returned by Oschadbank to the Pension Fund of Ukraine. If your situation is different — for example, if your pension simply hasn’t been credited to your card or your account has been blocked by the bank — the cause and the course of action may be different.

Source

The story regarding the payment of 547,861.12 UAH — a statement from the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, provided to the editorial team.

The procedure for refunding funds has been verified against the official guidance from the Pension Fund of Ukraine and Resolution No. 745 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 25 June 2025. The contact details for enquiries have been verified on the Ombudsman’s official website.