Representatives of the Pensioners’ Union express their concern about the situation of hundreds of pensioners in Moldova. According to them, this category is increasingly humiliated, but is simultaneously lured by false promises made by politicians. In a news conference given at the head office of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform” (PPPDA), members of the Union expressed their support for the party, saying they analyzed the electoral programs of a number of parties, but this party’s program is the closest to their view also because it promises a minimum pension of 3,000 lei next year, IPN reports.
“The current pension system looks like a bomb that can explode at any moment. The minimum pension calculated by the National Bureau of Statistics for 2021 is 2,104 lei, as opposed to 2,067 lei last year. In reality, 40% of the pensioners receive pensions lower than the minimum subsistence level. Most of them, about 400,000 pensioners, get a pension of 1,000-1,100 lei or even less,” said the head of the Pensioners’ Union Victor Leancă.
He noted real reforms in support of older persons can be done by increasing the allocations for the pension fund and by reasonably using the state social insurance budget. It is also necessary to implement new technologies for increasing productivity and salaries, for fighting the payment of salaries “in envelope” and for assisting the older persons in retraining and to increase their incomes for an old-age pension.
The Union’s deputy head Vladimir Lupașcu, doctor of economy, said the politicians lost credibility in the eyes of older persons who are treated as valuable only in the election campaign. The politicians are ready to offer electoral gifs so as to gain power for the next four years. Only those from the PPPDA devoted to them attention so far and proposed initiatives in Parliament, helping the pensioners.
The PPPDA suggest reviewing the state guaranteed monthly minimum income that is used to calculate the social assistance and cold-month allowances, reviewing the targeted payments schemes, instituting integrated support that cumulates payments and services for overcoming crisis/vulnerability situations. The party promises to develop a system of rehabilitation and reemployment services by extending the network of specialized social service providers and to enhance the efficiency of the social protection system by instruments to stimulate employers who hire older persons.
