Pensioners in Republika Srpska are set to receive a one-time financial assistance payment approved by the RS Government, with more than 30 million KM allocated for the measure through the budget rebalancing adopted in June.
Pensioners with pensions below the average in Republika Srpska will receive 120 KM, while those whose pensions are above the average will receive 80 KM. The threshold is the current average pension of 698 KM. A total of 31.2 million KM has been earmarked for the payments.
The decision has also drawn attention because the one-time assistance was approved ahead of elections. However, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not find grounds to initiate proceedings concerning the possible misuse of public funds.
Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted an application to the CEC, pointing out that the RS Government had previously provided similar one-time payments to pensioners in 2018 and 2022, as well as this year — all years in which general elections were held.
Damjan Žegović of Transparency International BiH said the organization was informed that the procedure would not be initiated because the payment had been planned in the budget.
“We only received an answer from the expert service that the procedure will not be carried out and that this is not disputed because it was planned, as they say, in the budget, although it is a question of budget rebalancing, which clearly shows that the Government of the RS did not have a clear intention to pay these funds at the beginning of the year, but it happened later. Which clearly shows that there is no regularity at issue,” Žegović said.
In addition to the one-time assistance, the RS Government announced an increase in pensions at the time the budget was rebalanced. The increase will be reflected in the payment of the August pension.
RS Finance Minister Zora Vidović said pensions would increase by 3.55 percent from August. She recalled that pensions had already been increased by 6.45 percent in January, bringing the total increase for the year to approximately 10 percent.
“Pensions will be increased from August by 3.55%, if you remember in January they were increased by 6.45%, so we are coming to an increase of 10%. This amounts to 35.4 million from August to the end of this year,” Vidović said.
However, Jelena Trivić, president of the People’s Front, argued that pensioners’ material situation has not significantly improved despite nominal increases in pensions.
According to Trivić, the average pension today, as was the case in 2007, covers around 23 percent of the consumer basket and 41 percent of the average salary.
“The government does not work on the material status of pensioners. What does it do? It adjusts pensions, there are some nominal increases, but people are growing all this time and the cost of living. So the prices are not stable,” Trivić said.
RS Government representatives have recently raised the possibility of providing pensioners with another tranche of financial support. It remains unclear whether this would take the form of another one-time payment or an extraordinary increase in pensions.
However, no additional funds for such a measure have been included in this year’s budget rebalancing. According to Finance Minister Vidović, an analysis of the available possibilities is currently underway.
