Ukraine’s parliament paid Oleksandr Dubynskyi over 3.4 million hryvnias while he was in custody
Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada resumed payments to MP Oleksandr Dubynskyi after its Rules Committee clarified that funds for exercising parliamentary powers are paid for the duration of a mandate, regardless of whether the deputy can perform his duties. The parliament paid him more than 3.4 million hryvnias from July through October 2026. The committee declined to pay his salary or compensate him for unused leave for the period spent in custody.
Key points
- Oleksandr Dubynskyi received over 3.4 million hryvniah from the Verkhovna Rada between July and October 2026.
- Payments resumed three days after the Rules Committee considered his letter in July 2026.
- Funds for exercising parliamentary powers amount to about 199,680 hryvniah per month.
- The first payment was nearly 200,000 hryvniah, followed by transfers of several hundred thousand hryvniah every few days.
- The committee ruled that parliamentary-power funds are paid throughout a deputy’s mandate regardless of whether the deputy can physically perform their duties.
- Dubynskyi did not receive compensation for unused leave, while one separate salary payment was reported as approximately 2,500 hryvniah.
- Dubynskyi, who denies wrongdoing, did not respond to a request for comment through his lawyer.
Why it matters
The case concerns the use of public funds for a deputy who has spent nearly three years in custody and cannot physically carry out his duties. The committee’s interpretation could establish a precedent for paying parliamentary-power funds throughout a mandate regardless of the deputy’s ability to work, while the spending reached more than 3.4 million hryvniah in four months.
What happened
After the Rules Committee considered Dubynskyi’s July 2026 letter in July 2026, the Verkhovna Rada resumed payments to him. The committee determined that the roughly 199,680-hryvnia monthly funds for exercising parliamentary powers should be paid for the entire period following a person’s election as an MP, regardless of whether they can physically perform their duties. Present members did not object to this interpretation, and the decision was unanimous. The committee did not award Dubynskyi salary for his time in custody or compensation for unused leave. The parliamentary administration began transferring funds three days after the decision, making a first payment of nearly 200,000 hryvniah. Subsequent transfers of several hundred thousand hryvniah followed every few days. By October, total payments exceeded 3.4 million hryvniah.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian reporting focuses on the budgetary payments and the Rules Committee’s reasoning, explaining how parliamentary funds are calculated. The coverage also emphasizes that Dubynskyi has spent nearly three years in custody facing state-treason allegations and other criminal proceedings. The payments are described as having followed directly from the committee’s decision, while Dubynskyi did not answer a comment request through his lawyer.
Where reporting differs
Ukrainian sources disagree over the amount of the separate payment labelled as salary. Some report approximately 2,500 hryvniah, while others cite 2,918 hryvniah.
Background
Dubynskyi is an MP from the Servant of the People faction and has spent nearly three years in custody, mainly in a pretrial detention facility, on state-treason allegations. The Security Service of Ukraine announced the initial treason and criminal-organization allegations in November 2023. He also received another state-treason suspect notice in May 2026 over alleged anti-Ukrainian propaganda from detention, and is suspected in separate cases involving illegal border crossings and document forgery. Dubynskyi denies wrongdoing and has said that the suspect notice from the Bureau of Economic Security was issued because of his criticism of Yermak and Zelensky.