Đuranović: The state is collecting millions on expensive fuel, but has no ear for higher pensions

While citizens pay increasingly expensive fuel and higher bills every day, the state generates millions in additional revenue, but at the same time refuses to direct part of that money towards pensioners and improving the living standards of citizens, said Miodrag Đuranović, a councilor in the Assembly of the Capital City of Podgorica and a member of the Presidency of the Civic Movement (GP) URA.

He reacted after the parliamentary majority on the Committee on Health, Labor and Social Welfare rejected the proposal of the GP URA to increase all pensions in Montenegro by 40 euros.

Đuranović assessed that the latest developments regarding fuel excise taxes and pension adjustments best demonstrate the current government's attitude towards the citizens of Montenegro.

As he states, decisions on excise duties and fuel prices are made in a non-transparent manner and without adequate explanation to the public, while citizens and the economy simultaneously suffer the consequences of inflation and the constant rise in the cost of living.

Đuranović points out that the state is currently collecting significantly higher revenues thanks to rising fuel prices, not only through full excise duties, but also through additional VAT that is calculated on higher prices.

"According to estimates, considering that around 1,5 million liters of fuel are consumed daily in Montenegro, the budget generates around three million euros more revenue on a monthly basis, precisely at the expense of citizens," he said in a statement.

Đuranović recalls that the GP URA presented to the public a sustainable model of increasing pensions by 40 euros for each pensioner, in order to at least partially mitigate the consequences of the price increase, but that the Government and the parliamentary majority have not shown willingness to accept such a solution.

"The funds for increasing pensions exist. The additional revenues that the state generates due to the increase in fuel prices could cover a large part of the costs of this measure. However, it is obvious that the interests of citizens are not a priority for the current government. Citizens today clearly see the difference between promises and results: fuel is more expensive, bills are higher, and the standard of living is far from what was promised. It is time to put the interests of citizens ahead of budget stuffing and political propaganda," concluded Đuranović.