A total of 534,000 people will receive an Easter supplement, it will be paid by the National Social Security Institute on April 26. so people can get them for the holidays.
This was announced to bTV by the Acting Minister of Labor and Social Policy Ivaylo Ivanov, quoted by BTA.
It was decided by the National Assembly that all persons who receive pensions below the poverty line of BGN 526 should be paid BGN 100 each, he recalled.
„When there is a similar criterion like this BGN 526, there are always people who are close to it and do not receive supplements. The National Assembly decided to give them only to the poorest and most vulnerable, for them they are also the most important, because they will really help them“, Ivaylo Ivanov also said.
The bonuses should not be tied to the pension system, they are paid by the National Insurance Institute, but this is a purely political decision – whether to provide such an amount, commented the Acting Minister of Labor and Social Policy. They do not rest either on the contribution of the persons in the insurance system, nor on any other criteria. They rest on the decision being made, he noted.
„My principled position is that when such bonuses are paid, they should not fall into pensions and thus affect the pension system and the state's insurance system,” said Ivaylo Ivanov. When they are paid separately, as now – only technically the database of the National Social Security Institute is used, they are not related to the social security system and do not affect the pension, he explained.
I don't think such a payout would affect people, after all the election is in two months – this is too long a period to influence their decisions, the acting minister noted in response to a question about whether the giving of supplements was related to the election campaign.
Currently, an analysis is being done to look at the first pillar of the pension system, the analysis is being done by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Ministry of Finance, the National Insurance Institute, to see where there are gaps, he said Ivaylo Ivanov.
„They have to review things in the first place because of the demographic picture in the country. Not only in Bulgaria, but also in the whole of Europe, the demographic picture is quite complex, as we have longer life expectancy and longer pensions, and also less and less people are employed to contribute these insurances and that they cover the costs for this“, he noted.
Ivaylo Ivanov also pointed out that the caretaker government can prepare the analysis, but cannot make all the changes. If one is required, it must go through the parliament, he declared.