Pavlo Zibrov revealed the amount of his pension and spoke about his service in Afghanistan: he has the status of a combatant, like Oksana Bilozir

People's Artist of Ukraine Pavlo Zibrov admitted that he receives UAH 7,500 in pension. For a long time, the singer dreamed of having five figures in his pension account because he served the state, but it turned out that they do not add up - only the money for the length of service and a 20% bonus go in.

Although Pavlo Zibrov, like People's Artist Oksana Bilozir, has the status of a combatant because of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, this title is only added to his basic salary as part of the percentage of the supplement. In an interview with Lux FM, the singer explained that the amount of his pension does not depend on the title of People's Artist either.

"It doesn't matter whether you are a people's artist or not. The long-service pension is also based on the contributions you made to the Pension Fund. There is a pension supplement, I think it's 20%. I thought that everyone was grieving, and calculating because I was a combatant in Afghanistan, I fought 45 years ago, and I was a People's Artist, and I was awarded certificates of merit... I thought that everything would add up and I would have a pension of 50 thousand. No way! 7500 UAH," the singer explained.

Zibrov visited hot spots during the USSR's war against Afghanistan in 1979-1989 with concerts to raise the morale of soldiers. For his services to the state, the artist was awarded the title of combatant. But despite this status, the only benefit he has is a plot at the Baikove cemetery. The artist jokes: "I have a privilege. It's 2 by 2 at Baikove [cemetery - Ed. The plot is quite expensive."

"When I was on active duty in Afghanistan, we used to go to Afghanistan with concerts. We sang military songs, Ukrainian folk songs, and pop songs to raise the morale of our soldiers. And we sang for the Afghan army for our brothers," the singer said.

In particular, Zibrov told about the first time he arrived in Afghanistan. The flight on a transport plane was extreme because of the additional cargo of 14 tons of frozen meat. To prevent it from melting, the plane was kept at a "refrigerator" temperature, and he had to warm himself with alcohol, the singer recalls.

"My first arrival in Kabul. The transport plane we were traveling on opened, and we were cold from Tashkent because we were still carrying 14 tons of frozen meat, to prevent it from defrosting, we were kept at the appropriate temperature. And we were very cold. However, we were carrying a bottle of vodka, so we drank it right there. The door opened and I met a guy from my village, we went to the same school, the same class, Petro. All of a sudden, warrant officer Petro was standing there with a machine gun to greet me. It was an unexpected meeting," the artist recalled.