Initiative for Social Pensions to Be Part of Strategy of Ministry of Rural Welfare

According to rough estimates, there are between 130 and 200 thousand people over the age of 65 who live in poverty in Serbia, and social pensions, that is, a guaranteed income of EUR 100, has been proposed for years as a solution for their life situation. One of the biggest advocates of social pensions in Serbia, Milan Krkobabic, the minister of rural welfare, once again touched on the subject and pointed out that the initiative for social pensions was in the preparation phase and added that it would be included in the new strategy of the competent ministry.

– There are plenty of people who have 14 years and around 11 months and 29 days of service and they can’t retire because the minimum for a pension is 15 years. So now people who worked that long have no pension or other income. This initiative is an institution of a new social policy, not just ours, it is based on the concept of true social policy of Europe and the modern world – Krkobabic said.

As Krkobabic pointed out, the initiative for a socially guaranteed pension is the basis for fighting poverty.

– The basic thing is to know that, if someone has no pension and can’t get it, is over 65 years old and has no other income, that person is in the poverty zone. We all have to ask ourselves what we can do to help people who are in the poverty zone, that is our civilizational task, that is a criterion of civilizational progress – Krkobabic pointed out.

When social pensions were discussed the last time, there were announcements that it could be implemented in the next two years, and for years now, there’s talk about it potentially being around EUR 100.

– I expect this to be realized, if not this year, then in the next two years. That is an idea that we will work on, and if we are all aware of the fact that it is necessary, we will realize this social policy institution. To avoid any confusion, these are not the usual pensions and they will not be paid from the pension fund, it will be part of a new social policy which has to take root in Serbia, because there is a large group of people expecting it – Krkobabic said at the time.

Still, even with all these initiatives, the category of social pensions has not yet been officially announced.

Ministarstvo za brigu o selu Republike Srbije

Ministry of Rural Welfare

Milan Krkobabić

social pensions

socially guaranteed pensions

social pension