Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has noted the difficulty of negotiations on the gradual decrease of the rate of the single social security tax payment to 15% with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"Now we're holding a long discussion with the IMF on the issue [the reduction of the single social security payment], as it is not simple. Currently we have a 41% social security payment, and we propose cutting it gradually to 15%. My idea was to set it at 15% at once, but our international creditors have pointed out the large risk from setting the rate at 15% while wages do not emerge from the grey market, and that we could lose a large income base," he said, presenting the government action plan in parliament on Thursday.

As reported, the single social security payment rate in Ukraine depends on profession, to which the accident insurance rate is pegged, although in many cases the rate is slightly over 37%. The Cabinet of Ministers has proposed that the single social security payment is cut to 15% if an individual’s salary is more than twice the minimum wage.

According to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, in 2013, 5.8% of employees in the public sector received wages up to 0.5 of the minimum wage and 6.4% in private sector, 9.7% and 17.37% respectively received from 0.5 to 1 minimum wage, 37.2% and 34.9% respectively from 1 to twice the minimum wage and 0.1% and 0.6% - 17 times over the minimum wage.