The Ministry of Social Welfare is still working on obtaining data on the amount of pensions that users of proportional pensions receive from all countries with which Montenegro has concluded an agreement on social security, but they did not answer the question of "Vijesti" whether this work, together with the necessary amendment of the law, will to be completed by the end of the year so that the corresponding pensioners would have a total income of 450 euros from January, as has been announced several times so far.
"Starting next year at the latest, pensioners who receive commensurate pensions will receive dignified treatment from Montenegro, like all other pensioners, announced the Prime Minister Milojko Spajic at the beginning of May this year.
In Montenegro, there are about 11 thousand commensurate pensioners who are Montenegrin citizens, and who gained their work experience in two or more former Yugoslav republics or other countries in the previous decades, so they do not have a unique work experience. They receive parts of their pensions from all those countries where they were employed and paid contributions for pension insurance.
Those who receive part of their pension in Montenegro do not receive it on the basis of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, provided that they did not have a full work experience in Montenegro, but on the basis of interstate agreements that Montenegro has with those countries.
According to earlier data from the PIO Fund, their estimate is that three to three and a half thousand of these pensioners receive the total amount of pensions from all countries, which is less than the minimum pension in Montenegro, which now amounts to 450 euros. The goal of the planned change in the law is to compensate them from the budget of the PIO Fund in the amount of up to 450 euros, but it is disputed that the Fund could not have accurate data on the income they receive from other countries.
In May, Spajić said that until then, Montenegro had not signed agreements with neighboring countries, and that the then Minister of Labor and Social Welfare would Naida Nišić, that very day to sign an agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will round off all regional initiatives.
"We had no way of finding out how much pensions our citizens receive from the region. Now we will have information on how much their pensions are, and Montenegro would pay the difference up to 450 euros," Spajić pointed out.
Minister Nišić then said that an agreement with Albania is in the parliamentary procedure, and soon it will be with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania. The agreement is important, he says, because it will apply to pension and health insurance rights.
Five months have passed since then, and as they say from the current Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography, headed by Damir Gutic, are still obtaining that data.
There are less than 450 days left until Prime Minister Spajić's promise that commensurate pensioners will receive 90 euros is fulfilled.
"Vijesti" asked the new ministry what has been done so far to resolve the status of proportionals, what are all the steps left to be done, as well as whether they expect the entire work with the preparation of documentation, signed international agreements and amendments to the law to be completed by Nov. in order for this group of pensioners to adjust their total income to the amount of the minimum pension from January.
"In the process of preparing laws and other regulations, it is necessary to carry out an analysis of the assessment of the impact of regulations, among other things, on the state budget, that is, an analysis of the fiscal impact, in the sense of whether, for the implementation of the regulations, it is necessary to provide financial resources from the budget of Montenegro on a one-time basis or in the long term period and in what amount. Since for a precise analysis of the fiscal impact on the state budget, it is necessary to obtain data on the amount of pensions from all countries with which Montenegro has concluded an agreement on social security, after submitting the mentioned data, a decision will be made on further steps in solving this issue. The PIO Fund of Montenegro is working on collecting data on beneficiaries of proportional pensions, which the fund pays in Montenegro in the total amount of up to 450 euros, i.e. data on the total amount of pensions earned in Montenegro and in the country/countries with which Montenegro applies bilateral agreements on social insurance. Currently, the assessment was made on the basis of the lists that were exchanged with the pension funds of Serbia, Croatia, the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska, Slovenia and North Macedonia. Therefore, we are working on obtaining data on the amount of pensions that beneficiaries of proportional pensions receive from all countries with which Montenegro has concluded an agreement on social security", stated in the answers from the Ministry.
The problem is complicated because pensions are based on bilateral agreements
The Ministry reminds that the Law on PIO stipulates that the lowest old-age pension in the nominal amount (minimum pension) does not belong to the beneficiary of a proportionate pension obtained by applying international agreements, for the reason that in most cases, these are pensions with a short period of insurance which is insufficient for fulfillment of the conditions for acquiring the right to an old-age pension in accordance with the Law, so the insurance period completed in the country with which Montenegro has concluded an international agreement, i.e. with which it applies a bilateral agreement on social security, is taken into account for the fulfillment of the conditions.
"These persons exercise the right to a pension with a foreign holder of pension and disability insurance, based on the length of insurance for which pension and disability insurance contributions have been paid, by fulfilling the conditions for a pension according to the regulations of the contracting state. Therefore, these persons, in addition to the pension they receive on the basis of the Law, which is paid to them from the funds of the PIO Fund of Montenegro, also receive the right to a pension according to the regulations of another contracting state, in accordance with which these persons are paid a pension by a foreign holder. insurance, and in connection with that, those persons are entitled to two pensions", stated the Ministry.
They say that Montenegro applies 25 bilateral agreements on social security, which provide citizens, that is, insured persons of the contracting states, on the basis of reciprocity, rights from social security, which include: pension and disability insurance, health insurance, health care and maternity, insurance in case of injury at work and occupational diseases, cash compensation for unemployment, child allowance and administrative legal assistance
Bonus video:
