The Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities has begun paying subsidies, after running out of funds in August due to an increased number of requests for funds planned for the entire year.
Guesting on TV Vijesti's Boje jutra, the head of the cabinet of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue, Anđela Ivanović, said that 16 million euros had been redirected to pay subsidies.
"Indeed, colleagues from the Professional Rehabilitation Fund are working every day, even overtime, to ensure that employers, that is, persons with disabilities, realize their guaranteed rights and their rights to subsidies. We truly hope that everyone will be paid in a very short time, that is, by the end of the year," said Ivanovic.
Marina Vujačić from the Association of Disabled Youth warned in "Boje jutra" that delays are jeopardizing the payment of salaries and that real wages are significantly lower than the media reports, with an additional administrative obligation that slows down the process. The ministry has filed criminal charges against 18 employers for fictitious employment.
"This state is closing the market instead of arresting the thief. There has often been writing about the accountant from Bijelo Polje, we know who it is, because we have received a lot of information specifically about that accountant and we ourselves helped to process some cases, because when my colleague Goran Macanović and I were in Bijelo Polje, people with disabilities complained to us that they were not receiving their salaries, that they were being paid some allowances, that they had signed a contract, that they did not know the amount... When we checked this information with the Fund, it turned out that it was the same accountant who is connected to many employers. When I added up the amounts for which he is suspected of having damaged the budget, it was over 1,1 million euros, adding up only what appeared in the media. I call on the institutions of the system to all do their jobs within their jurisdiction and not to assume that we are all thieves, that we are all prone to abuse, that we are all prone to not knowing what and what kind of actions we are engaged in. We are continues to 'threaten' the Law on Unified Disability Expertise as if this reform will actually lead to a reduction in the number of people with disabilities, and its goal is to finally conduct expert assessments according to a model based on human rights. If this is not implemented, according to the Convention, let me tell you right away that there is no person who will be able to fake so many processes that have been designed unless someone from the system helps them. I claim that no abuse of the system can be done without employees in the system. That is impossible," said Vujačić.
For 2026, 24 million euros are planned for professional rehabilitation, which is one million more than this year.
Bonus video:
