The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a decision to raise salaries for journalists working in state and municipal media. According to amendments to Resolution No. 1038 of December 28, 2016, employees in this sector will receive a monthly seniority bonus. The bonus will amount to 2% of the base salary for each calendar year of service, capped at 30%.
This was announced by government representative to the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk. He noted that the salaries of journalists whose positions are equated with those of managerial staff and specialists of the secretariat of the respective state bodies will be set at the level of civil service salaries in the job family “Communication and Information Support.” Salary levels will depend on job category, jurisdiction, and type of state body.
In 2023, the Cabinet had already revised the salary conditions for state and municipal media journalists, updating terminology in line with the laws “On Media” and “On State Support of Media, Guarantees of Professional Activity and Social Protection of Journalists.”
Financial issues remain one of the key challenges for Ukrainian media. According to a survey by the NGO It Makes Sense, two-thirds of journalists identified financial instability as the biggest challenge over the past year. A poll by the Institute of Mass Information, conducted in spring 2025, showed that one-third of newsrooms lack a strategy for finding new sources of funding. The share of media outlets describing themselves as “in survival mode” rose from 8% in January to 29% in May this year.
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