Appeal of military financiers to Yu. Butusov on issue of military pay in Armed Forces of Ukraine
A military unit financial specialist published a very important post about the problems of determining financial support for military personnel and the need for the Ministry of Defense to clearly define responsibility for reducing financial payments so that the military has consistency and logic. We will also raise this issue in tomorrow’s stream.
"A post-appeal of despair and search for justice to Yurii Butusov
I wish you health, Yurii Yevhenovych!
Honestly, the injustice is off the charts that I just overwhelmed...
First things first.
I am a financier of a military unit, I volunteered to serve from the first days of the war and brought my colleagues from civilian work with me to become accountants. I wanted to set up the accounting of the military unit and I believe that despite everything, we have succeeded quite well. My colleagues and I faithfully and honestly perform our duties, raise problematic issues in our area and initiate their solution, and do not shy away from ordinary soldierly duties. But the problem is that there is no respect for us, military financiers. I'm not talking about the staff (everything is fine with the staff), or the command of the military unit (there is understanding and cooperation). I mean that there is no respect in the echelons of the Ministry and the General Staff.
Since the beginning of 2023, it has become clear that the state has punch above its weight in terms of payments to the military and their families. The war was prolonged and the budget was running out. On February 1, the approach to paying additional remuneration changed. It is only fair that:
1) everyone should not receive the same amount;
2) only those servicemen who perform combat missions should receive remuneration;
3) those who serve in the rear should be left without remuneration, only with monetary support.
It is understandable that, in the face of a significant budgetary shortfall, this made it possible to significantly reduce spending on the military. However, all the pressure from the command, all the anger of the personnel from these changes fell on the shoulders of the financiers, on our shoulders. And explanatory work does not always work. It is difficult to explain to an ordinary soldier that this is not our initiative, that it is an objective necessity in the economic crisis. But it's okay, we've survived. We continue to work and console ourselves with the fact that it is not easier for the guys in the trenches.
I don't know who writes these orders in the Ministry of Defense, and especially the explanations to them, but I have an opinion that it is:
A) either VERY smart people who know a lot of the statutes and are professionals who simply cannot express their opinions clearly and understandably, without assumptions, guesses and variant readings;
B) or not very smart people who want to save budget funds, but do it at the expense of casualistry, confusing regulations that require clarification, then clarification to clarification, etc.
There are 2 options here:
1) you can try to make only those payments that are not exactly prohibited and interpret the questionable points in the NON-PAYMENT direction. In this case, it can cause conflicts in the team, complaints against the command of the military unit and, as a result, a significant decrease in the morale of the military. Sometimes such injustice pushes a soldier to prolonged AWOL (absence without leave) because he needs to feed his family and at the same time meet his needs (repair his car, buy gas, buy personal protective equipment, etc.)
2) to pay all due financial support and remuneration and thus expose the commander and me, as the chief accountant, to the risk of overpayment in terms of future audits with subsequent compensation at the expense of the guilty parties (i.e., the commander and me). Because gentlemen auditors (with all due respect to their difficult job) do not really understand our position between the devil and the deep sea, they are usually far from the urgent problems of units, combat missions and the conditions in which they are performed, suffering and grief from human losses. They work according to instructions, and the tasks are set as if they were in the Soviet Union- to find something and punish someone. They don't care about the doubts in which these decisions were made, or how those puzzles from the orders of the Ministry of Defense and the mysterious explanations to them were solved.
It would seem that you are a "moneyman", an accountant, a "clerk" (as ordinary military personnel often think), you are not at "zero", you are not risking your life. It's not service, it's a dream. But it is not quite so, or rather NOT AT ALL. You risk the morale of the entire military unit, the reputation of the commander, his authority and the ability of the units to perform combat missions on the battlefield. And you risk your wallet if you misunderstand the opinion of the official who wrote this or that regulatory act (and there are many more guesses than specifics). And we, financiers, are also "made of flesh and blood", we have families and we would not want to be ashamed in the Armed Forces.
I delayed the prelude a bit. Now the problematic issue that simply knocks the ground out from under your feet, which outrages and surprises you with its cynicism.
Following the Order of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine No. 566 dated 26.09.2023 "On Approval of Amendments to the Procedure for Payment of Remuneration to Servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Certain Other Persons", an additional remuneration of UAH 30,000, starting from September 29, 2023, is paid to servicemen "performing combat (special) tasks under combat orders as part of the active troop groups (forces) of the state defense forces" (as it was before), but one seemingly insignificant remark was added - "according to the list of tasks approved by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine". We are used to various complicated and ambiguous "creations" of the Ministry of Defense, but these tasks surpassed all the previous ones. Unfortunately, I can't publish them because they are marked "for official use," although there is nothing secret about them. It's just another implementation of the plan to confuse and quarrel with everyone, to give food for thought to the auditors and to open another wave of complaints and lawyers' appeals from the military.
As usual, we, the financiers, remain hostages of this creation, and we have to "clear up" in front of hundreds of our comrades, again explaining that the state is simply running out of money, but our officials cannot say this frankly. So it's better to throw it to units and let them get out of it somehow...
The most outrageous thing is that among these 64 (!!!) tasks defined by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and giving the right (well deserved) to receive additional remuneration, there is not a SINGLE one for the financial service. Is this a devaluation of our work? Or is it disrespect for people who work with personnel, conduct explanatory work and allow them to receive proper financial support in the shortest possible time? No one sees our work, or is this work done somewhere else? No, it is done HERE, next to all other units. In basements, in abandoned village houses. Often in the combat zone or on its outskirts. Often with equipment purchased at our own expense, moving along roads that have been smashed to pieces with our vehicles, refueling at our own expense, not to mention the stationery we also buy ourselves. This work is done despite constant moral pressure and a high level of responsibility. This is work with enormous amounts of money allocated for salaries and a constant risk of making a mistake that could result in the injury of a serviceman (if you underpay) or your family (if you overpay).
That is why I am addressing you, Yurii, as you are a highly respected person among the military. If you can, please publish my concern about the attitude of the Ministry of Defense to military financiers and, I am sure, the concern of thousands of my colleagues. And I ask you to raise the issue of amending the above tasks to include the tasks that are ACTUALLY performed by the financial and economic service of a military unit as part of the active troop groups.
Hope against hope…"
