Mykola Tomenko explained how "poor" judges with million-dollar salaries secure new privileges

Public figure and politician Mykola Tomenko drew attention to how the state plans to generously increase funding for judges in the budget project for 2027 year — even though public trust in this branch of power has long fallen to critically 10 percent. Read on to see what billions are being spent on and why the heads of the courts are complaining about life.

Judges’ “poverty” at hundreds of thousands of hryvnias

While the country lives under full-scale war conditions and the government saves on essentials, the leaders of the Ukrainian judicial system have been sounding the alarm about their own “poverty” since last year. As Mykola Tomenko noted, Supreme Court head Stanislav Kravchenko, at a special Plenum, lamented that the rampant inflation allegedly “eats into” the incomes of judges.

The politician wryly observed that the figures on the payslips are indeed striking in their “modesty”:.

“It’s not surprising, because tell me: how can Supreme Court judges live on an actual monthly salary of 447 thousand hryvnias, the High Council of Justice — 319 thousand, the Higher Qualification Commission — 301 thousand, and the staff of central-level judicial authorities — 50 thousand?” Tomenko cites data for June 2026 year.

Growth of expenditures on 10 billions and new robes

The authorities’ response to such complaints did not lag behind. The government, together with the parliamentary corps, rushed to assist the “army of judges,” embedding in the state budget project for 2027 year a grandiose increase in expenditures. Just for judges’ salaries they plan to allocate almost 10 billions more — the amount jumping from 18,5 to 27,7 billions of hryvnias.