Ukrainian pensioners in Austria may be required to return social benefits: who is at risk of having their funds seized

In the federal state of Lower Austria, Ukrainian refugees who received social assistance and a pension from Ukraine at the same time may be required to return part of the funds paid. The total amount of claims may reach about 450 thousand euros.

This is reported by the Austrian publication Heute.

Why are Ukrainians forced to return money

Austria has a basic social assistance program Grundversorgung, intended for people who cannot provide for their basic needs on their own.

When determining the amount of assistance, the recipient’s income is taken into account, including pension payments from other countries.

According to Alexander Murlasits, a representative of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), some Ukrainian pensioners did not notify social services about receiving pensions from Ukraine.

As a result, they could be charged a larger amount of assistance than provided for by the rules.

According to preliminary estimates, the claims for refunds may concern approximately 165 people, and the total amount of overpayments is about 450 thousand euros.

The court ordered the return of more than 11 thousand euros

On September 28, the Land Administrative Court of Lower Austria issued a decision according to which the Ukrainian pension is taken into account as income when calculating social assistance.

In one of the cases considered, a Ukrainian couple appealed the claim to return more than 13,400 euros.

The court excluded climate and anti-inflation payments from the calculation, which are not considered income. At the same time, the amount of 11,569.81 euros was left to be returned.

It is important that this is an administrative recovery of overpaid funds, and not an automatic criminal prosecution of Ukrainians.

Why the decision caused controversy

Representatives of Ukrainian organizations and social services criticize the approach to the return of payments.

They note that at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, information about Ukrainian pensions may not have been requested or properly recorded when applying for benefits.

At the same time, FPÖ representatives insist that applications for social support were translated into Ukrainian, so recipients should have known about the need to declare income.

What Ukrainians in Austria should know

Ukrainians who receive Grundversorgung social assistance must take into account the requirements for declaring income, including pensions from Ukraine.

If social services establish the fact of overpayment, they may demand the return of the corresponding amount.

At the same time, each situation requires individual consideration, and the decision to collect funds can be appealed in accordance with the established procedure.

It should be noted that the described situation concerns the federal state of Lower Austria and does not mean an automatic return of social payments by all Ukrainian pensioners living abroad.