Pensions to rise 20%

On April 1, the pensions will be indexed 20% for age retirees and participants in the Chernobyl catastrophe, as well as the indemnities of the disabled, Info- Prim Neo reports. Social protection deputy minister Iurie Bucinschi stated, after the March 10 sitting of the parliament, that the minimum age-related pension from April 1, 2009, will be 570.11 lei, in agriculture – 507.55 lei. The class I disability pension will be 405.58 lei, and 391.66 lei for class II and 275.78 lei for class III. The difference between the indexed minimum pension and the calculated minimum pension will be paid from the state budget. The average age-related pension will be 798.14 lei, after indexation, compared to 665.12 lei now. According to the Government's decision, the indexation of the pensions of former parliamentarians, public servants, local officials and customs officers will be done only with means from the social insurance fund. For the first time, the compensations for the Chernobyl catastrophe liquidators to buy additional food will be indexed 12.7%, taking into account the costlier food. The pensions of the former military and police will also be raised 12.7%, as well as social allocations for some categories of citizens, except for nursing and death allocations. According to estimative data, implementing this decision will cost 705,592.5 thousand lei, which will be allocated from the state social insurances budget and 18,379.4 thousand lei – from the state budget.