Today, only according to official data, there are 0.5 million Ukrainians in Germany. Of these, about 150,000 lived in the country even before the start of the war, and about 350,000 more were refugees who left Ukraine after the Russian invasion began.
However, the real number of Ukrainians there may be significantly higher, since it is not known how many of our fellow citizens have not registered in Germany.
Despite the fact that in Germany, as in other European countries, Ukrainians are now provided with temporary protection, assistance with finding housing, payments and provisions to cover funds for life and treatment, the issues of pensions and accident insurance at work have not been resolved, after all, Ukraine has not yet ratified the agreement with Germany on social security.
This agreement, together with agreements on its implementation, was concluded on November 7, 2018. The German Bundestag ratified it on November 13, 2019, but the Verkhovna Rada has not yet completed the necessary internal procedures necessary for the agreement to enter into force. The formal reason for this is the lack of money. This position has remained unchanged to this day.
At the same time, Ukraine has a number of similar social security agreements with such European Union states as Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Poland.
“That is, there was no money for the implementation of agreements with these countries, namely with Germany, for some reason. And now those Ukrainians who left for these countries can count on the support of their state, but Ukrainians in Germany cannot,” – the article says.
At the same time, the ratification of the agreement will immediately have a number of positive consequences for Ukrainians in Germany: it will stimulate their official employment, provide protection from accidents at work, allow them to receive pensions earned in Ukraine, moreover, immediately in euros, their work in Germany will be taken into account for calculating insurance experience and pensions of Ukrainians, and the experience acquired in Ukraine will also be taken into account for calculating the corresponding payments in Germany.
In addition, the opportunities provided for by the agreement for crediting work experience will encourage Ukrainians to return to Ukraine after the end of the war, because they will understand that their work in Germany will not be in vain.
In this regard, according to journalists, the president, prime minister, head of Verkhovna Rada, chairman of the committee on social policy and protection of veterans’ rights and other government officials should do everything they can to ratify the agreement, ensure support for Ukrainians in Germany and encourage them to continue homecoming.
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