"Zelensky's Thousand": Ukrainians back petition to cancel payments, details revealed.
Ukrainians have backed petition No. 22/237068-ep on the portal of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to cancel the payment of 1,000 UAH in the winter of 2024-25. Citizens agreed with the petition author's arguments, which outlined the challenges in filling the Ukrainian budget and reminded about the lack of funds for the Defense Forces, education, and healthcare. Details of the voting and the rationale for canceling the "Zelensky thousand" are published on the electronic petition portal.
The petition regarding the "Zelensky thousand" was created by Roman Stan on November 14, 2024. By November 28, just 14 days later, it garnered the necessary 25,000 votes for the president to consider the proposal. Notably, the votes were collected well ahead of the deadline, which was still 78 days away.
The petition author reached out to the state leadership and explained that he sees three problems with the "Winter eSupport." Firstly, there is a likelihood of low efficiency in budget spending, regardless of the source of the funds (even if they come from Western partners). Secondly, there is questionable support for national producers. Thirdly, the payments lack targeting, meaning that both a pensioner with a minimal income and a person with a high salary would receive them. At the time of this article’s publication, 25,111 Ukrainians agreed with Roman's arguments.
Zelensky Thousand — What is the Government's Reaction to the Petition
After reaching 25,000 votes on the president's website, the petition will be reviewed within three days and receive the appropriate mark, as explained on the portal. Within ten days, the head of state is obliged to consider the citizens' proposal and publish a decision. The decision will appear in a tab on the petition page and will be sent personally to the author, Roman Stan. As of now, the status of the appeal has not changed.
People's Deputy from the "Voice" faction, Yaroslav Zheleznyak published a reaction to the voting by Ukrainians. He congratulated the initiators, calling the "Last Capitalist" project, and labeled the "Zelensky thousand" as an "idiotic populist idea," expressing interest in a possible response from officials.
On the pages of the president, the prime minister, the ministers of social policy, and other departments, as well as on the Facebook page of the head of the VR Finance Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, there is no reaction to the proposal from Ukrainians to cancel the winter payments.
It is worth noting that Volodymyr Zelensky announced in October 2024 the payment of one thousand UAH to all Ukrainians residing in the territory of Ukraine. The funds are planned to be distributed through the Diya app, and they can be used to pay for utilities, purchase goods and services from Ukrainian producers, or be donated to support the Armed Forces. Meanwhile, Yaroslav Zheleznyak explained how the government would source the 3.7 billion UAH for the payments "Zelensky thousand". According to the MP, the money will be redistributed from the demining program (2 billion UAH), the investment program (1.76 billion UAH), and the program for compensating lost agricultural machinery.