Journalists reported how a former prosecutor in Mykolaiv receives a pension of ₴156,000 at the age of 36

Former prosecutor of Mykolaiv region Dmytro Kazak. Photo: Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office

After leaving law enforcement, former head of the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office Dmytro Kazak sued the Pension Fund for 156,000 hryvnias in pension payments, which he has been receiving monthly since December 2025.

Ekonomichna Pravda explained how he managed to do this.

The case concerned the restrictive coefficients that the government introduced for excessive pensions (above the maximum allowed at that time of 23,100 hryvnias). The former prosecutor demanded that the government's decision not apply to him. The court agreed.

In addition, the court documents state that he has a second degree of disability, which subsequently influenced his early retirement, which Kazak began to receive in September 2022. At that time, he was 33 years old.

The same court decision states that, despite his disability, the former prosecutor receives a seniority pension, which is analogous to an old-age pension. However, while most Ukrainians are eligible for such payments after a minimum of 35 years of service, Kazak receives them at the age of 36. But Dmytro Kazak's case is not unique, the publication notes.

In fact, prosecutors do not necessarily have to obtain disability status in order to retire at a relatively early age. All they need is 20 years of work experience, ten of which must be in the prosecutor's office, and a little patience. Although the law stipulates that prosecutors must have 25 years of work experience (15 of which must be in the prosecutor's office) to retire, this restriction does not stop legally savvy individuals. They sue the Pension Fund and demand that it calculate their pensions not according to the current 2014 law «On the Prosecutor's Office», but according to the 1991 law, which has more favourable requirements for work experience.

The old law guaranteed prosecutors much higher pensions: 80-90% of their salary, compared to 60% under the current law. Dmytro Kazak took advantage of this by asking the court to oblige the Pension Fund to calculate his pension according to the invalid legislation.

Last year, the average age of retirement for prosecutors was 47. Meanwhile, Ukraine already had six retired prosecutors who were not even 40 years old.

As a rule, such people continue to work in the prosecutor's office, receiving both pensions and salaries. Every time their salaries change, they go to court to demand that their pensions be recalculated so that they amount to 80-90% of their earnings. In 2025, there were 5,739 prosecutors in Ukraine who received a pension for length of service. Of these, 2,262 were working. Of these, 1,150 were under the age of 50, according to Ekonomichna Pravda.

It should be noted that in January 2026, when information about pension payments to Dmytro Kazak became public, the Office of the Prosecutor General launched an investigation to verify the circumstances of the payments and determine their amount in court.

Screenshot from the Office of the Prosecutor General's website

According to media reports, Dmytro Kazak himself has left the country and currently lives with his family in Sweden.

Dmytro Kazak became head of the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office in July 2022. In January 2024, he was dismissed from his position.