Bulgarian Pensioners Rally against Meager Christmas Bonuses

Society | December 29, 2009, Tuesday // 16:44|  views

About 50 pensioners protested against poverty in downtown Sofia Tuesday. Photo by BGNES

About 50 pensioners rallied in protest against poverty in front of the Council of Ministers building in Sofia on Tuesday.

The retirees especially protested against the meager Christmas bonuses of only BGN 25 that only those of them with monthly pensions of under BGN 200 will get in January 2010.

“We are fed up with the poverty, we want European pensions,” the banners of the pensioners read.

The protesters were mostly representatives of pensioners’ organizations expressing their discontent with the social policies of the government of Boyko Borisov. They demand that the minimum monthly retirement pension in Bulgaria, which is BGN 136, be made equal to the minimum monthly wage of BGN 240.

Another one of the protesters’ grievances included the increase of the price of monthly tickets for the public transport in Sofia from BGN 6 to BGN 8.

Meanwhile, Labor Minister Totyu Mladenov declared the Cabinet was doing everything possible in order to improve the social situation in the country. In his words, 11,3% of the GDP will be allocated for retirement pensions in 2010. A total of 43% of the total 2010 state spending will go for pensions and social security benefits.

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Tags: pensioners, pensions, retirees bonus, Christmas bonuses, protest, rally, Totyu Mladenov, Labor Minister

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