Acquiring a winter house and firewood for the upcoming winter is a big problem for many citizens, especially pensioners, and the most vulnerable will also need subsidies for heating.
The interlocutors of "Vijesti" also agree that due to the announced increase in the price of electricity, high prices of fuel and life, the country is facing a difficult winter, but also that the authorities were late or remained silent on the appeals.
A cubic meter of split wood in Podgorica costs up to 80 euros, while unsliced wood costs from 65 to 70 euros, while pellets are 230 euros per ton, without VAT, and as they told "Vijesta" in one factory, they do not expect price corrections during the year .
To heat a small house in Podgorica during the winter, you need at least five meters of wood, and in the north of the country, three times more.
Although their research data has not yet been completed, the Center for Education, Information and Trade Union Research (CEISI) said that for a dignified life in Montenegro, a family of four would need around 1,6 thousand euros. They pointed out that it is twice as much as the minimum consumer basket that the Monstat Directorate for Statistics published in June, which amounts to 818 euros.
According to the latest Monstat data, the average salary in August was 799 euros.
Monstat recently published a study according to which more than 20 percent of citizens live at risk of poverty, or every fifth person, while in the northern part of the country that percentage is 37,6 percent. However, this is partial progress, because in 2019, 24,5 percent of citizens, or one in four, were at risk of poverty.
Many already "on the edge"
A family that receives financial aid in Herceg Novi told "Vijesta" that the colder days bring worry for some and that the situation is not easy.
"And like this we are on the edge, how will the winter be..."
The secretary of the Pensioners' Movement agrees with this Milo Đurović. He emphasized that pensions grow more slowly than the level of inflation, and that the standard of living of older citizens is increasingly deteriorating. He added that the majority of pensioners are not preparing for the winter, but hope that things will get better, and that for the sake of money, only a small number of them have the opportunity to get a winter house and firewood.
In order to preserve standards and slow down inflation, ten days ago the Government relaunched the "Stop Inflation" campaign, which provides for price reductions for more than 100 items in retail chains, food and consumer goods.
Đurović assessed that pensioners welcomed the action with the hope that price increases and the fear of poverty and hunger would be put to an end, but that there is still a huge gap between promises and results, so, as he claims, there are rarely items with reduced prices in supermarkets.
A five percent increase in pensions was recently announced, but Đurović points out that pensioners with a minimum pension of less than 300 euros, that is, with an average of 405 euros, can set aside only for the most basic groceries and barely make ends meet.
"How is it possible to save after paying utilities, other fees and expensive medicines? What is left for food, which is getting more and more expensive every day", asked Đurović.
He emphasized that they decided to ask for help from the Government for the needs of the winter house and firewood - money for the materially most vulnerable. This, as he explained, would function as a loan or an interest-free loan, which pensioners would pay back in eight to ten installments.
Đurović claims that they asked for help last year as well, but without success, and that pensioners in the north of Montenegro are in a special problem, because firewood is crucial for them.
He added that at a recent meeting at the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, they received a promise that the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism and the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund would be involved in finding a solution, but that nothing has been done since then.
Đurović also said that pensioners are disappointed, which is why the next address for their demands is the Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, and that they will demand to meet with him.
Zebnja arrives before November
The Center for Education, Information and Trade Union Research (CEISI), founded by the Union of Free Trade Unions (USSCG), also agrees that the winter will not be easy and that the citizens will welcome it with great anxiety, fear and on the brink of existence.
According to them, the main challenge for the Montenegrin family is the consumer basket. They explained that according to their projections, a family of four needs about 1,6 thousand euros per month for food, hygiene, shoes and clothes, a seven-day summer vacation, education and imputed rent. They announced more precise data about that "union consumer basket" for a dignified life at the beginning of December.
Because of this and other factors, the Center said that subsidies for firewood will be necessary for the most vulnerable.
"Subsidies for the most vulnerable strata of society are necessary, because without them, households with minimal income (minimum salary, pension or social benefits), especially in the north of the country, will certainly not be able to provide enough firewood, considering the fact that the average household in that region needs at least 15 meters of wood, which exceeds the amount of 1.000 euros for the heating season", the answer states.
They claim that they sent several initiatives to the Government and the Ministry of Finance in order to regulate the price of basic foodstuffs and fuel, and that they will appeal to prevent the increase in the prices of electricity, water and cleanliness because the standard of citizens is already threatened.
They add that their initiative led to a reduction in excise duty on oil, so Montenegro welcomed the summer season with one of the lowest fuel prices in Europe. They believe that the new limit on the maximum price of fuel, which the Ministry of Finance recently adopted, is too late, and that citizens' budgets are already greatly threatened.
They also state that the prices of basic foodstuffs in Montenegro are among the highest in Europe and that it is not rare that the products consumed by every household can be found cheaper in Germany, even though the wages there are much higher.
"The prices of certain products have increased by more than 100 percent, although the inputs in the production and procurement of those goods and services have remained the same or increased slightly (in the last few months, they even decreased)," said the Center.
They also believe that the unstable political scene has contributed to everything in the last few years and that other activities are being prioritized, i.e. that not enough attention is paid to important topics, and citizens are left to fend for themselves as they know how. That is why, as they say, the Government must urgently work on this pressing problem on which many households throughout the country depend.
Serbia: Economic tiger in Paris
Although price growth has been heating up since the pandemic, after the conflict in Ukraine began, inflation on certain staple foods in Serbia jumped to 80 percent in two years.
This caused the value of the consumer basket to be significantly higher than the minimum wage, and to be closer to the median wage.
Namely, according to the data of the Republic Institute of Statistics, the average salary in June amounted to 65.358 dinars (about 550 euros), while, according to the Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade, the value of the minimum consumer basket was 52.155 dinars. The minimum salary for the same month was 40.480 dinars.
Due to the visibly high inflationary pressure on citizens' standards, the Government of Serbia made a decision to introduce the campaign "Better price - price for the people", which, in agreement with trade chains, will limit the prices of certain products.
The restriction initially applied to coffee, milk, french fries, potatoes, yogurt, spaghetti, hair shampoo, laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, soft drinks, baby diapers, baby food and shampoo, toilet paper, pads and adult baths.
Then, after the region decided to introduce a similar "method", the list was supplemented with more than 20 products, among which there are oil, margarine, biscuits, pate, kidney beans, soap, marmalade, jam, flour, sorghum spread, peas, cabbage, toothpaste, sour milk, onions and hot dogs.
Nevertheless, although "Bolja cena" has to some extent reduced the burden on citizens' pockets, the most frequent criticisms of this action refer to the quality of the included products, which consumers consider humiliating, while the growth of inflation in other segments, such as fuel, energy products and excise goods - continues continuously.
That's right, in order to dispel the "myth" about a low-quality Parisian, the president Aleksandar Vučić decided that, together with the ministers Tomislav Momirović i Sinisha Malim, demonstrates its edibility.
Following the promise, members of the government gathered in the Palace of Serbia, at a small table on which there were 500 grams of chopped parsley, two "Sava" breads, two liters of yogurt, mayonnaise and two bags, all of which, according to the president's claims, were ministers paid 585 dinars.
Although it remains unclear how the president managed to eat half of the bread with the parisier before the ministers took two bites each, why he delayed his bite, why it was not recorded and who paid for the large parisier in the wrapper that is on the table, but not on the bill , the message was clear - we should all eat parisier.
The action resulted in, in the spirit of the pre-election campaign, the sale of breadcrumbs jumped by 1.086 percent in three days, making dry bread the cheapest in the region, with the fact that inflation still hasn't caught up, because despite IMF forecasts that Serbia will have inflation at the end of the year eight percent, in August it was 11,5 percent.
According to the forecasts of economic experts, the forecasted inflation remains an almost impossible mission for Serbia, given that double-digit increases in energy prices will follow, while in parallel, the reservoir of citizens will be deeper and deeper. Therefore, it follows that the economic tiger in Paris will pay trade margins at the "Better price", and if he gets angry, the increased electricity bill will cost him less.
On the other hand, the authorities will continue to justify inflationary growth with factors that the state cannot influence, corona and war, while fueling it by throwing helicopter money, which will provide citizens with a quality sandwich made from processed foods with three percent meat. In turn, they have a voice, or the contempt of the "elite" who eats kulen and tea instead of Parisians.
At the "Better price" most of the shops on the shelves have chicken wings for 259 dinars (about 2,2 euros), yogurt for 139, spaghetti for 49, milk for 95, juice for 80 dinars, potatoes for 60, homemade spices for 50, coffee for 89, marmalade from 199, jam from 229, sunflower oil from 144 dinars.
They also have flour for 50 dinars, biscuits for 119, sorghum spread for 159, beans for 259, hot dogs for 79, pate for 49, peas for 139, cabbage for 69, margarine for 79, sour milk for 64 dinars and others, as well as products for personal use hygiene and household chemicals, including baby shampoo for 69 dinars, toothpaste for 99 dinars, soap for 40 dinars, dishwashing detergent for 69 dinars.
The companies "Delez", "Merkator S", "DTL" with all their members, "LIDL" Serbia, "Super Vero", "UniverExport", "DIS", "Metro", "Domaća trgovina - Aroma" participate in this campaign. , "AMAN" and "GOMEKS", which together occupy over 80 percent of the market share.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sauerkraut and somehow, but no meat
While in Banja Luka they are worrying about what will happen to the high representative whom they do not recognize, while in Sarajevo they are guessing whether the property will become state property or not, and while in the Brčko district they are thinking about what will happen to them if Banjaluka and Sarajevo do not agree again, citizens in all parts of the country are only two worries on the mind: how to meet and get through the winter.
Although politicians of all colors, smells and tastes have been promising to fight inflation for months, it is not happening. Food prices are sky high, and a meter of wood and a ton of pellets cost as if they contained lithium ore.
Milka Stokić from Brčko says that he doesn't know what he will do or how he will do it when the minus hits.
"I bought five meters of wood, but that will not be enough for me if the winter lasts. I just pray to God that there will be sun as long as possible. One meter is one hundred marks (50 euros), and it will be even more as winter approaches. They were split even more, ten days ago it was 120 marks per meter. There are those who are waiting for the Sava to soak, so they haul wood to the shore", says Milka Stokić.
Miladin Knezevic from Kotor Varoš has been working with wood for more than twenty years. He says that the meter has never been more expensive. And it will only grow, he adds. Because of this, people buy less and less, and what they buy, they buy in installments.
"I don't remember when I drove away ten meters of wood at once from someone. I think it's three years old. And if I chased someone ten meters away and he paid immediately - it was not, it seems to me, even longer. People take two or three meters at a time, and pay for that in several installments. And you have to. If you don't give it to them, someone else will. Or they won't even buy, and then everything will fail," says Miladin.
Ivka Brkić from Mostar this year, only one barrel of cabbage will be pickled. Not because, he says, cabbage is more expensive than last year, but because the meat went to heaven under the clouds.
"What good are two tubs of sauerkraut to me if I can't get as much minced meat as I need for sarma? Cabbage is still good, but meat is too expensive. I can't even count on pork belly, because the ribs are also expensive, and they will be, the butcher tells me, even more expensive. Swine, especially after the plague that killed everyone in Lijevac. Sit down and cry", says Ivka Brkić.
Professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Banja Luka and president of the People's Front Jelena Trivić tells "Oslobođenje" that this is a problem that all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina will have to face.
"Why are their topics not life issues but politics and raising tensions? Do those who lead the 'The border exists' rallies even know how the people live? The people are starving while they stood up to defend the one who would sacrifice the Republic of Srpska and the people for the sake of their millions," she pointed out.
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