PUPS asking for pensions to be financed from companies' profits

According to an announcement of Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, the current system is changing and the “Swiss model” is envisaged as a potential solution from 2020. This means that the pensions will be calculated based on the inflation and the growth of the salaries in the economy. They are now harmonized with the growth of the salaries in the public sector.

– We are not saying that the “Swiss model” is a bad solution, but we should talk about it before the final solution is reached, especially considering that the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) has good experts in this field – the vice president of PUPS, Miroslav Spanovic, says for Dnevnik.

As he says, they learned a lot from Jovan Krkobabic, who was a world-renowned expert in this field, and they are ready to help find the most favorable model for the harmonization of pensions.

– We are ready now, as we were in 2014. President Vucic always points out that pensioners are the heroes of the financial stabilization of Serbia – Spanovic emphasizes.

Let us remind that the new formula for calculating pensions was first announced by Mali and the IMF Resident Representative in Serbia, Sebastian Sosa, half a year ago. It was said at the time that the government would work on the model together with the IMF. Under the potential “Swiss model”, as the finance minister explained to the press, the indexing of pensions would be done each year depending on the inflation rate and the growth of salaries in the economy. These indicators, the minister said, are weighted 50% each. According to him, that would be the most favorable model, as it ties two indicators which are the main determinants of the pension amounts.

In Europe, nearly all countries have formulas for the harmonization of pensions, with most of them using a combination of the growth of prices and the growth of salaries. Austria, Italy, France and Spain harmonize pensions with the growth of prices. In Finland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, the growth of salaries of 20% to 50% is calculated into the harmonization.

PUPS believes that a solutions should be found for the pension system to remain sustainable for more than 1.7 million pensioners in Serbia and that it is only possible if the state guarantees pensions.

– Even developed countries are starting to have problems with the pension system, as there are fewer and fewer workers making payments to the pension fund. To clarify, due to the modernization and automation of the production, a job which used to require 50 workers is now done by a robot – Spanovic says. – Those companies make great profits and we believe that they should set aside a part of it into a special fund, which would be used to finance the pensions. For pensioners, the most important thing is for the pensions to be regular and to follow the growth of salaries and enable a comfortable life.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Međunarodni monetarni fond-MMF Beograd

Partija ujedinjenih penzionera Srbije PUPS

Sebastian Sosa

Siniša Mali

Miroslav Španović

pensions

Swiss model

profit for pensions

pensioners