Igor Knezevic from the Retired Persons' Trade Union of Croatia was a guest in the live studio of N1, where he commented on the announced pensioners' protest and the adjustment of pensions.

“We in the union are used to everything, but we never expected the government to increase salaries for the highest state officials so explicitly and massively. We can say that this was an arrogant and smart move by the government, because it happened during the summer season when most organisations are not active, but still the Retired Persons’ Trade Union reacted,” Knezevic commented.

“Croatia is one of the worst countries in the European Union, where the share of the average pension in the average salary is below 41%, while the average in the European Union is 58%.

A record number of pensioners are working part-time

If we want to reach the European Union average so that our pensioners can live in dignity, we must achieve this. Our goal is to reach 60% of the average salary. The pension must already be 760 euros in order to speak of a reasonably normal life for pensioners,” added Knezevic.

Knezevic also commented on the minimum pension.

“Fortunately, the state legally guarantees the minimum pension, which is now over 13 euros per year of service, which is still not enough to live on. On the other hand, we have a situation where the pension for the average pensioner will be 40 euros higher, but we have not yet mentioned the former members of parliament and members of government, for whom this adjustment will bring 152 euros,” he explained.

“We have the latest data for July this year. A record 32,500 pensioners are working part-time. Most of these jobs are in the service sector,” Knezevic added.