Hundreds of thousands of pensioners left Ukraine because of the war. However, depending on the status in which they live, the payment of pensions abroad may remain or may be cancelled.

Ukrainian women with children and pensioners can leave Ukraine by obtaining temporary asylum, obtaining refugee status or obtaining a residence permit for permanent residence. Therefore, there is a nuance provided for in Article 51 of the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Provision”.

Pensions abroad when leaving for permanent residence
Having relatives or family members who left Ukraine earlier and who have the opportunity to ensure the move, pensioners leave Ukraine for permanent residence in other countries. Registration of departure for permanent residence is carried out by the migration service, which informs the Pension Fund about the persons who have issued such a departure, and the accrual of pensions is terminated. As the press service of the Pension Fund reports in response to questions from Ukrainians, a pensioner can submit an application to the Pension Fund and documents for leaving for permanent residence abroad before leaving. This procedure provides for the receipt of a pension for six months, counting from the month following the month of deregistration at the place of permanent residence.

Paying a pension abroad is possible only if there is a bilateral agreement (Agreement) on social security between Ukraine and the state where you are leaving for permanent residence.

In case of departure to Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan after moving and applying to the state authorities on the spot, the pension will be assigned according to the laws of these countries.

In case of moving to countries such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, as well as Spain, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, you must contact the territorial pension authority of the country of residence to calculate the pension assigned in Ukraine. In the application, you indicate the name of the body of the Pension Fund in Ukraine, in which you were registered. Together with a copy of the passport and documents on registration in the new place of residence, the documents are sent to the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

Pensions abroad for refugees and temporary protection
The bodies of the Pension Fund of Ukraine and social protection of the population carry out monthly calculation of pensions and social benefits for both internally displaced persons and citizens who have gone abroad because of the war in Ukraine.

According to the press service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, citizens who went abroad because of the war in refugee status or received temporary protection can continue to receive their pension and social benefits from the state of Ukraine.

This requires that payments be processed even before departure – in Ukrainian banks. In this case, they can freely use bank cards of Ukrainian banks abroad and receive their payments.

How to get a pension abroad if there is no bank account
Citizens of Ukraine who received pensions and social payments through Ukrposhta got the opportunity to open accounts with PrivatBank remotely and receive payments to a new account. To do this, you can open an account and a card without visiting the branch of an authorized bank through the official website or mobile application of the bank. At the same time, when opening an account, the identification of the client is carried out by the bank by video verification.