PIO Fund Aims for 750-Euro Average Pension by 2030

The director of the Republic Fund for Pension and Disability Insurance (PIO), Relja Ognjenovic, said on October 20 at a forum with pensioners in Zvezdara that the Fund is moving toward an average pension of 750 euros by 2030. At a rate of about 117 dinars to the euro, that comes to roughly 88,000 dinars.

The forum was held at the AS Lazic restaurant, and Ognjenovic said that it and the one in Zemun are the last two events of this kind in Belgrade.

“Today in Belgrade we have the last two forums, in the municipality of Zvezdara and the municipality of Zemun. I expect around 600 pensioners at those forums.”

Where does the 750-euro goal start from?

Ognjenovic said the forum would present the results the Fund has achieved. As a starting point, he noted that the average pension in the municipality of Zvezdara was about 30,000 dinars in 2012. He summed it up this way: “We have shown pensioners that we are heading toward that average pension of 750 euros by 2030.”

The Pensioners’ Association of Serbia gives a more recent figure for the same municipality. Association president Andreja Savic said Zvezdara has more than 35,000 pensioners, with an average pension above 73,000 dinars. Set against Ognjenovic’s figure for 2012, that means the Zvezdara average has more than doubled in nominal terms, but both numbers come from the two speakers, with no source given and no adjustment for inflation.

For comparison, 750 euros is about 15,000 dinars above the Zvezdara average cited by Savic. Nothing reported from the forum says which average the goal refers to, Zvezdara or the whole country, so that question went unanswered.

What did the forums bring pensioners?

Ognjenovic said that around 80 forums so far have meant conversations with more than 20,000 pensioners. Those talks logged more than 500 problems, and the Fund says 93 percent of them were resolved. The remaining seven percent, accordingly, are still waiting for a solution.

The director himself assessed that percentage and pointed to the limits of the forums:

“That is a very high percentage and I am very happy about it, but that number tells us we have to talk to people more and work harder, so that we solve these problems institutionally, and not only at these forums of ours where we have direct communication with pensioners.”

In other words, Ognjenovic wants a steadier dialogue with pensioners outside the forums themselves, so that problems are handled through institutions.

Savic assessed the forums from the Pensioners’ Association’s point of view:

“These forums have shown that care for pensioners cannot be designed and run from offices. We have to talk to all pensioners, hear how they live and what troubles them in everyday life. It means a great deal to us, as intermediaries between pensioners and the competent state institutions, because it lets us shape our proposals.”

The event was also attended by First Deputy Prime Minister and caretaker Finance Minister Sinisa Mali. His statement from the forum was not reported.