Most of Serbian Pensions Below RSD45,000

People (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC/DS)

Most of Serbia’s pensioners receive less than 45,000 dinars a month, which is at or below the poverty line, the coalition Nis, My City cautioned on March 23, commenting on a recent statement by the Serbian speaker, Ana Brnabic, who said that pensioners in Serbia enjoyed a better standard of living than their peers in Germany, Luxembourg and Norway.

“More than 700,000 pensioners fall into this category, while a significant number of them receive less than 25,000 dinars per month. In such conditions, any claim of a ‘better life’ compared to developed European countries represents a blatant disregard for reality,” the opposition coalition said in a statement. They added that more than one-third of pensioners give up adequate nutrition in order to save money or cover basic living costs.

“The order of their expenses clearly reflects priorities imposed by poverty: first bills and utilities, then medicines and medical services, and only then food, and that at a minimum level,” the coalition Nis, My City warned. They added that tens of thousands of elderly women without any pension must not be forgotten, as they are left to fend for themselves or rely on an insufficient social protection system.