(AP) – Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov on Nov. 17 called on business leaders to stop paying salaries under the table, a widespread practice in this ex-Soviet republic.
“It is very important to provide your employees with official salaries, not to pay them in the envelopes,” Yekhanurov said in an address to Ukrainian businessman.
The new government has promised to end the practice, which became widespread after the Soviet collapse, of paying very low official salaries to avoid taxes, then supplement the pay, off-the-books. Tax revenues and the state Pension Fund suffered as a result, and many citizens were denied the opportunity to receive bank loans and decent retirement pensions.”You are condemning people to paltry pensions,” Yekhanurov said, referring to the minimum monthly salary of 330 hrynvas ($66, 55 euros), which is paid officially to many Ukrainians. The subsistence wage is considered 453 hryvnas ($91; 75 euros).
