The Minister of Finance Radoje Žugić did not respond, within the legal deadline of 15 days, to the written request of the independent MP Neven Gošović to enable the payment of old-age benefits in Montenegro in the legally established amount of 50,2 euros because the Ministry of Agriculture has been paying the old amount of 40 euros since the beginning of the year. euros.
Because of this, Gošović sent an urgent request to Žugić and a request to the general secretary of the Assembly, Siniša Stanković, to take measures in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
Article 50 paragraph 4 of the Rules of Procedure prescribes that in case the written answer is not submitted to the MP within 15 days, the Secretary General of the Assembly shall inform the Secretary General of the Government, i.e. the official from whom the notification and explanation was requested.
At the beginning of April, Gošović addressed Minister Žugić and asked for notification of when and what measures the Ministry of Finance will take to ensure that the calculations for the payment of old-age benefits in 2015 are in line with the recently adopted amendments to the Law on Agriculture and Rural Development.
In his address to Žugić, he noted "that the Law on Budget and Fiscal Responsibility, for the execution of which he is responsible, contains mechanisms for the payment of insufficiently planned expenditures during the fiscal year."
The Ministry of Agriculture has been paying old-age benefits for four months in the amount of 40 euros each, although changes to the Law on Agriculture from January stipulate that they amount to half of the minimum pension - 50,2 euros. This compensation is received by about 5.000 beneficiaries who live in the countryside, engage in agriculture and have no other income, and are older than 65 for men and 60 for women.
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture is Petar Ivanović, who admitted in the Assembly that he is paying fees in the old amount because there is no additional money in the budget.
The budget was made before the adoption of the amendments to the law and it provided 2,65 million for these fees, and now there is a shortage of about 600 thousand for the whole year.
Violation of the rights of 5.000 citizens, Gošović requests a list of beneficiaries
In a new letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Petar Ivanović, Gošović stated that he was aware that the old-age allowance was paid for April in individual amounts of 40 euros instead of 50,2 euros.
"In this way, you continued to recklessly violate the rights established by law for nearly five thousand citizens of Montenegro," Gošović pointed out, among other things, in a letter to the Minister of Agriculture.
In this regard, Gošović has now asked the minister to provide him with a list of persons - beneficiaries of old age benefits in Montenegro, with their address of residence.
His request is based on the provisions of Article 50 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Montenegro.
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