Only Poorest Bulgarian Retirees to Get Christmas Bonuses

Bulgaria's Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Hassan Ademov, photo by BGNES

Only Bulgarian retirees who have a pension below the poverty line will receive Christmas bonuses," said the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Hassan Ademov.

"Our desire is to give Christmas bonuses to all pensioners, but this is not possible given the severe budget situation. The long-awaited for four years now, the coveted Christmas bonuses, are about to become reality for some," he stated.

Ademov explained there were several options in finding funds for them.

"We allowed the Finance Minister, together with colleagues from the National Social Security Institute, NOI, to choose one of the options. The most reasonable one is to have uniform Christmas bonuses, i.e. all to be in the same amount, not differentiated. Because there is no condition binding the Christmas bonus with social security contributions," said the Minister.

He added that if there is a surplus in the State budget and ways to save money from other expenditures, then the government will be able to make one million pensioners happier.

"At the end of the year, there are many sectors that need additional funding and this is due to insufficiently prudent budget planning for 2013. This is not an easy task for the Finance Minister and for all institutions," said Minister Ademov.

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