In connection with the thesis expressed by the leader of “Vazrazhdane” Kostadin Kostadinov about the destruction of the second pillar of the pension system, the companies, members of BADDPO categorically announce the following:
Pension funds are not a “pyramid form”, but reliably saved money in personal accounts of insured persons, which are inheritable and bring profitability. For the last nearly three years alone, the profitability of all accounts in all funds in BADDPO is measured in total at nearly 5 billion leva, reports BNT. This is money earned for citizens and it will remain in their accounts. The numbers say the following – of the nearly 30 billion leva to date saved in the capital funds over the entire period of their existence, 5 billion leva have been added in the last three years alone thanks to the skills of the experts in the pension companies managing the funds. The work of the companies is strictly controlled on a daily basis by an independent state regulator, as well as by the custodian banks. There are clearly established transparent rules and they are observed.
The existence of the second pillar is not a robbery of Bulgarian citizens. It would be a robbery if their saved money were taken away – this would be tantamount to nationalization, comparable to seizing citizens' money in banks. Because in both cases we are talking about personal savings. Such an act would not be inherent in democratic societies with a market economy, but for dark times in Bulgarian history, which should have remained in the past.
Something more – Even if the money from the pension funds were nationalized, this would not solve the problems with the deficit in the first pillar in the long term. But it would rob the future of the insured persons and their heirs. Electoral juggling with numbers probably thickens the party rhetoric. But it does not correspond to reality, they point out in their position.
At BADDPO, we categorically oppose attempts to instill fear among citizens. As well as the artificial opposition between the solidarity first pillar and the capital second and third pillars of the pension system, which are designed to complement each other in favor of the insured persons. The accumulations in the accounts have not gone through a full life cycle of 40 years, but are only in the middle – and critics of the pension model know this very well when they talk about the low second pensions. They also know that when the model was conceived, the contribution to the second pillar should have been 7%, not 5% – a fact that also has a bearing on the volume of accounts. As well as the fact that many citizens are not insured on real incomes. All these are issues that are resolved with joint efforts, not with opposition. Our categorical position is that capital funds are an important part of solutions in favor of insured persons, not a problem.