Collection of loans forgotten in 2005 began.

The collection of loans that the Employment Agency gave out for self-employment of the unemployed from 1999 to 2005, which have not been returned so far, has begun, said the Acting Director of the Agency. Gzim Hajdinag at a press conference.

At the end of October, commercial banks started to send reminders before forced collection on behalf of the Institute to more than a thousand users of these loans worth around 12 million euros. As "Vijesti" previously wrote, these loans were distributed since 1999 for self-employment, and they were never returned, nor did the previous administrations of that institution raise the issue.

Hajdinaga said yesterday that the new Board of Directors of the Institute is on the proposal of the president Dejan Vojvodić raised the issue and that the banks were asked to start collecting those loans.

"The collection has started and so far we are satisfied with the cooperation with the banks", said Hajdinaga.

The procedure of reminders and forced collection on behalf of the Institute is initiated by banks that had a contract with the Institute on so-called commission work during the periods of loan issuance and which were then paid in advance to monitor and collect these loans on behalf of the Institute.

According to the self-employment lending program from 1999 and 2005, a total of 48 million euros of state money was spent for these purposes through the Institute and commission banks. Those favorable loans were given with symbolic interest, so that the total amount to be returned was 54 million euros. Of that amount, 12 million euros or about 22 percent of the total approved loan funds were never returned.

The winners of those favorable loans were supposed to transfer to the Institution, by fiduciary pledge, the right to some real estate of greater value than the issued loan. However, collection was never initiated either by the management of the Institute or commission banks.

Vojvodic previously told "Vijesta" that these problems were not solved satisfactorily in previous years, but were pushed under the carpet, and the collection of the multimillion-dollar debt was silently prolonged.

He then stated that they have cases where loans for self-employment in the amount of 15.000 euros have been paid, and the beneficiaries have not returned even one hundred euros since 2005. It also indicates the possibility that these loans were used for political or party needs.

"The practice of false promises that loans will be forgiven or cancelled, in return for giving political votes, is being stopped. "These days, we have various complaints from citizens that they were 'promised' by some political entities that the loans were written off, canceled and that they would not be returned," said Vojvodic.

There are now 40.012 unemployed people on the records of the Institute, which is about 6.000 less than at the end of last year. The registered unemployment rate is 14 percent and is 2,8 percentage points lower than last year.

Positive trends in the labor market, as assessed by Hajdinaga, are the result of increased economic activities in the country, as well as activities carried out by the Institute.

"By activating all capacities, we tried to soften the trend of hiring foreign labor and influence the greatest possible employment of domestic workers. During the previous 12 months, the institute carried out 52,5 mediations for almost 30 unemployed people. Since only 2022 mediations were carried out for around 6.000 people in the entire year 4.000, the math is clear - in this year, the number of mediations is almost nine times higher, and seven times more people were mediated, which results are many times better than several years ago. , said Hajdinaga.

It is urgent to limit subsidies for people with disabilities by law

In the budget for the next year, a sum of 20 million euros is foreseen for subsidizing the wages of persons with disabilities, despite suspicions that this humane idea is being misused, because in some municipalities the number of persons with disabilities is growing drastically, as well as the amounts of gross wages they are reported to, which increases state expenditures

14 million euros were planned for the payment of these subsidies this year, but due to the increase in the number of requests as well as the increase in salaries for which persons with disabilities apply, the total amount paid so far has exceeded 21 million.

Hajdinaga indicated yesterday that during 2023, the number of requests for exercising the right to wage subsidy for persons with disabilities - almost doubled.

"In this year, 2.080 applications were submitted for exercising the right to the wage subsidy of persons with disabilities, while last year the Fund Council approved 1.192 applications. Of this number, 1.260 requests relate to new requests, which represents 40% more requests than last year. And in 2024, we expect the tendency of employers to increase their interest in subsidizing the wages of people with disabilities," announced Hajdinaga.

As "Vijesti" previously wrote, there are persons with disabilities who are registered with earnings of eight thousand euros, of which they receive 75 percent or six thousand from the state, because there is no legal limit.

"Vijesti" also asked whether the law will be amended in order to limit the amount of the subsidy for the earnings of people with disabilities.

The head of the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, Denis Martinović, said that they have been proposing the amendment of the law for several years and that it is now urgently needed.

"I wouldn't say that they are abuses, until they are proven, but that they are just using the legal option. The law does not limit the amount of gross earnings that can be reported for a person with disabilities, and thus the amount of the earnings subsidy received from the Fund. We are proposing changes to the law that would limit the amount of the subsidy, it is up to the relevant Ministry and the Government to consider it and propose it to the Assembly", said Martinović.