The Minister of Social Affairs with a reminder when Easter supplements are sent to pensioners – Economy

A total of 534,000 people will receive an Easter supplement, which will be paid out by the National Insurance Institute on April 26 so that people can get it for the holidays. This was announced by the Acting Minister of Labor and Social Policy Ivaylo Ivanov in the program “Why, Mr. Minister?” on bTV.

A decision was made 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.

Bonuses should not be tied to the pension system, they are paid by the National Insurance Institute, but this is a completely 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 Insurance Institute is used, they are not connected to the insurance system and do not affect the pension, he explained.

I don’t think such a payment would affect people, after all the elections are two months away – that is too long a period to influence their decisions, the acting minister noted in response to a question whether the giving of supplements was related to the election campaign.

At the moment, 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 Social Security Institute, in order to be able to see where there are gaps, 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 of 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 said.