ZAGREB, October 23, 2018 – Labour and Pension System Minister Marko Pavić said on Tuesday that he was willing to continue negotiations with the unions regarding the pension reform, calling on unions to have additional rounds of talks.
Pavić sent the public-sector unions a letter to that effect hoping that they would “once again sit at the negotiation table.”
Asked whether the government was prepared to make some concessions, Pavić said that the package of pension reform laws is being put up for debate in parliament and there may still be some amendments to improve it, however, the reform is nearing completion.
The package had been absolutely hammered out in cooperation with coalition partners and many stakeholders. We talked with the finance industry, social partners and interested public. We conducted intensive consultations over the past four months. For us, it is essential to achieve an increase in pension allowances, sustainable public finances and that not one group of current or future pensioners is discriminated against, Pavić said.
Asked by reporters whether the government was considering the establishment of a specific fund for paying the so-called privileged pensions which aren’t financed based on working life and which are now paid out in line with special regulations, Pavić said that those pension allowances would be reviewed, recalling that there were still 13,000 recipients of WWII veterans’ pensions.
We have various systems. We will conduct an analysis and we will see, Pavić announced, after signing a grant agreement for e-business project with the Administration Ministry. He recalled that the pension system had an annual deficit of 17 billion kuna and 6 billion kuna is required for the second pension pillar.
The aim of the pension reform is to make it possible for recipients to have higher pensions and to ensure long-term sustainability in public finances and that not one group of pensioners is discriminated against. If we were not to implement the reform, pensions for citizens who were born after 1962 and would be retiring next year, would have be lower by 600 kuna to 700 kuna, he said.
