From a card, to a letter, to a discount on the electricity bill - in the past months, since the possible elections began to be discussed, the government has been generous to the oldest fellow citizens.
A few days ago, the Government of Serbia adopted, at the proposal of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, amendments to the Regulation on Energy Vulnerable Customers, which will enable a greater number of citizens to receive a discount for electricity, gas or heating.
Pensioners who have an electricity supply contract in their name, and whose pension does not exceed 21.766,26 dinars, will have the right to an additional bill reduction in the amount of 1.000 dinars during the heating season, the ministry announced.
The Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović called on the oldest citizens to register from next week at the counters in their municipalities, stating that those who are unable to register in person will have their bills reduced ex officio.
Long list
This is just the last in a series of assistances given to pensioners before the announced elections that will be held on December 17.
Already on November 30, the oldest citizens will be paid a one-time aid of 20.000 dinars.
As of October 1, pensions are higher by 5,5 percent, and as of January 1, 2024, an additional increase of 14,8 percent has been announced, for which the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, says that it is the largest in the history of Serbia.
As of October 1, pension cards are also valid. As the portal "Vremena" already wrote, there are 413 companies offering discounts on the PIO Fund table. The Prime Minister said that there are 620, and the Minister of Finance said that there are 650.
It is clarified that the discounts apply to various areas, such as travel, staying in spas, pharmacies, car services, shops, health institutions, cultural institutions, restaurants, swimming pools, as if the discount amounts range from 2 to 66 percent, with a note that the majority is between 5 and 10 percent.
It is not specified until when these discounts are valid. Until the election?
An important electorate
"The only parameter that pensioners trust is a wallet and a refrigerator," was the recent message of the Association of Pensioners' Unions of Serbia and the Association of Pensioners of Serbia "Nezavisnost" addressed to the head of state Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.
But it will be that Vučuč knows it well.
The biggest increases in pensions in two stages, the extraordinary bonus of the pension card, and if he is not in power, none of that will happen. This is the message that the President of Serbia sends to his oldest fellow citizens in almost every public appearance who, as a rule, go to the polls in the most disciplined and largest numbers.
According to the official data of the Pension Fund, in June there were 1.646.171 pensioners in Serbia. That is about 25 percent of registered voters in the voter list, according to which about 6,5 million citizens of Serbia (including all those who live abroad) have the right to vote.
If we take into account the data from the "Census 2022", according to which there were 2022 million citizens of legal age in Serbia in the middle of 5,1, then the share of pensioners in the electorate is even higher - as much as a third.
Therefore, without the support of pensioners, there is no victory in the elections.
The most endangered
According to the data published by the Republic Fund for Pension and Disability Insurance, as many as 1,2 million pensioners receive a monthly amount that is less than the value of the minimum consumer basket, which for the month of May was about 51.000 dinars.
Read more Vučić's measures: Scaring and buying the poor and pensioners
That the situation is even worse is shown by the fact that almost 900.000 pensioners receive a pension in the amount of up to 35.000 dinars, and as many as 575.000 receive less than 25.000 per month.
Research organization Crta showed that a third of citizens see the new economic measures recently presented by Vučić as a way for the state to help citizens, while a quarter of respondents believe that it is buying votes for the next elections.
These days, pensioners in Serbia receive a letter at their home address in which President Vučić addresses them personally.
The letter reminds of the increase in pensions, new financial assistance, states immense gratitude for the support and understanding, and at the end of the message - that we will have to be careful who we elect so that all of this will be in the future.
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