The payment of 64 euros of increased old-age benefits to farmers is expected to begin next week after this year's agricultural budget is amended, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management told "News".
They also note that all users will then receive a one-time payment for the retroactive increase in fees, i.e. a maximum of 280 euros for those who have been receiving benefits since January, while those who became users later will receive a proportionally smaller amount.
Several users of these fees complained to the editorial office of "Vijesti" that these days they could not raise these fees related to September.
The Ministry of Agriculture explains that the Law on Agriculture and Rural Development stipulates that old-age benefits amount to 70 percent of the lowest pension, and as there was an extraordinary adjustment of pensions, which increased the lowest pension by 36 percent, old-age benefits also increased to 177 euros. Due to the fact that the increased payments of these fees were not foreseen in this year's agricultural budget, it must be corrected, and additional money for these purposes was provided through the adopted budget rebalancing.
"Based on the above, the lowest pension as of September 2022 amounts to EUR 253,61, and this caused the increase in old-age benefits, so that they amount to EUR 177,53. Old-age benefits will also be adjusted retroactively, which means that the difference will be paid from the New Year for the entire amount. As it was not foreseen in the budget, for that reason we had to ask for additional money through rebalancing and it has been allocated, so the agricultural budget is being changed so that these funds could be operational. We expect that the benefits will be paid according to the new calculation to the users, of whom there are over 3.000, already next week", stated the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the aforementioned law, the holder of a family agricultural household has the right to old-age benefits if he is older than 65 years for men, or 60 years for women, lives in the countryside and engages in agriculture and does not receive income on another basis.
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