Two associations of pensioners sent an open letter to PM Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday asking the government for a 10-percent raise in pensions and also to adjust the pension calculation method, in order to help people dealing with the inflation and rising food prices, state agency Hina said.

Hina did not name the associations involved nor how many pensioners they represent.

The letter said that in February the average pension was 35.5 percent of the average salary, which puts Croatia at the bottom of the EU. Last year two in three pensions were below the poverty line at just over 2,900 kuna (€384).

Their demands include raising pensions by 10 percent “by the end of June” for all those who had retired after 1 January 1999, which they calculate would total some 308 million kuna (€40 million) of extra spending a month for the country’s entire pensioner population of 1.14 million, out of 3.88 million people.

They added that the raise should be made permanent, as they say the pension system reform which came into force in 1999 meant that these senior citizens ended up getting 10 percent lower pensions.  The government has announced that as of next month it will pay an energy allowance for seniors whose pensions are below 4,000 kuna (€530).

Another demand put forward involves the government giving a 400 kuna (€53) energy voucher for people receiving pensions smaller than 1,500 kuna (€200).

(€1 = 7.54 kuna)