Although they welcomed the latest amendments to the Federal Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, workers who have served in the army still do not receive better pensions, because the new regulations in practice brought them only the possibility of exercising their right to an old-age pension.
”This amended law discriminates against thousands of veterans. A few years ago, through the same law, the period spent in the army was counted as paid service, according to which, for example, if you had 36 years of service and four spent in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), you went into a guaranteed pension. But, this is not the case now. The law is completely unfavorable for us and I don’t know if the changes were intentionally created in this way, ” said the trade union representative of Konjuh, Mujo Gavranovic.
According to him, he currently has 39 years of service, with four years and three months of service in the ARBiH. To sum up, he currently has 43 years and three months of work experience, and if he retired now, he would receive the lowest pension of approximately 380 BAM.
”In order to get a guaranteed one, which is 100 BAM higher, I have to work for another year. So, they did not help us with the changes in the law. They hindered us and we consider ourselves deceived,” Gavranovic added, noting that there are at least five other workers in Konjuh who have the same problem.
The explanation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) Pension and Disability Insurance Institute is clear, and it says that in order to be entitled to a guaranteed amount of pension, a worker must have 40 years of insurance experience or the same number of years of paid service. The period spent in the army does not count here but is applied in retirement.
Also, the Association of Demobilized Veterans of Tuzla Canton (TC) sees a problem in the amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance of the FBiH, whose implementation has recently begun.
”To date, we have not received a regulation on law enforcement, but according to details from practice, we see that the law is more favorable only for those people who cannot work because they are forced to retire due to illness, regardless of its amount. This is positive until a possible change is made. We hope that this is a transitional solution and that a model will be found on which contributions will be paid for the period spent in the war, ” the president of the Association of Demobilized Veterans of the TC, Muzijet Kahrimanovic, told.
In addition to resolving the mentioned situation, demobilized veterans put the finding of a model for the payment of veterans’ allowance among their high priorities, emphasizing that they had previously managed to secure the right to subsistence allowance for all those members of the ARBiH who do not have the opportunity to find permanent employment.
E.Dz.
