Pensioners disappointed: Instead of aid, they received charity

(Patria) - The payment of one-time aid to pensioners in FBiH has begun. The relevant minister confirmed to Federal TV that orders have been sent to post offices, and on Monday they will be sent to banks.

The aid is arriving, but halved. Pensioners believe that their request has not been fully met because they asked for much more than what the Government is giving them.

They say - instead of aid, they received charity. They are slowly losing hope that their other demands will be met.

- We have been deceived, we are one hundred percent deceived, and this is buying off pensioners. Pensioners are not deceived, pensioners are being bought off with this, this is charity - says the president of the Association of Pensioners' Unions of Zenica-Doboj Canton, Mustafa Trakić.

The president of the Association of Pensioners' Unions of Tuzla Canton, Haso Halilović, says that he would be happiest if they could refuse this altogether.

According to the Decree on the payment of one-time aid to pensioners in FBiH, pensioners with minimum and guaranteed pensions will receive 100 KM, and those with pensions above the guaranteed pension up to 1,000 KM will receive 50 KM.

And they asked for more - from 100 to 200 KM, which they were promised they would receive, but only after the budget rebalance.

- Now we see that it is possible without a budget rebalance - it is possible, but according to their rules, not according to the requests and needs of pensioners - says Halilović.

Trakić points out that this should not have been done outside of the association in FBiH and the negotiation team: "There are five of us on the team, they should have informed us".

As one of the reasons why the pensioners' demands were not fully met, the FBiH Government states that they found the funds for this type of support for the material and social status of pensioners through the redistribution of budget funds.

- We will not wait for the payment of the November pension in December, but we will pay it during the month. This requires about 37 million KM - said the Prime Minister of FBiH, Nermin Nikšić (SDP).

- We did not want them to be hostages of the budget amendment procedures, but based on internal savings within the budget itself, we created an accumulation that will be paid out - stated the Minister of Finance, Toni Kraljević (HDZ BiH).

Dissatisfied with this method of paying monetary assistance, pensioners expect reactions that could be either additional demands to the FBiH Government or renewed protests.

- I think the Pensioners' Association will have to convene urgently and adopt appropriate conclusions - said Halilović.

Trakić adds that they are waiting for a call: "I would like us to be united in the Association of Pensioners' Unions. If they don't want that, I warn - the Association of Pensioners' Unions of Zenica-Doboj Canton will go to protests on its own for the third time".

Yesterday, it was not possible to find out from President Redžo Mehić whether the pensioners would convene again and what the stance of the umbrella organization is.

Therefore, we remind you of his earlier statement: "One-time monetary assistance - that is the proposal of the FBiH Government. When we asked for what we are asking for, to somehow bridge the problems, it comes as their proposal from June 11. We said we will not refuse any offered help".

Along with dissatisfaction with the method of paying one-time monetary assistance, pensioners note that they are also not satisfied with the dynamics of fulfilling their next demand - the amendment of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance regarding the harmonization of pensions.

They note that time is running out until the deadline, March of next year, and the commission that is supposed to deal with this issue has not even started working yet.