Welfare Minister Reinis Uzulnieks, in an interview with "nra.lv TV sarunas," discussed what supplements to pensions residents of Latvia over 85 years old will receive next year.
The Minister noted that the Ministry of Welfare is an expenditure agency that does not have "savings tucked away in a drawer." According to R. Uzulnieks, the supplements to the basic pension for work experience should have been introduced as of January 1 of this year, and he stated that the reason this did not happen is due to "political jealousy" from coalition partners.
R. Uzulnieks believes that this is not a whim but a necessity, as pensioners over the age of 80, and especially those aged 85 and older, have the lowest pensions, and there are about 65,000 people aged 85 and older in Latvia. The average supplement to pensions may amount to approximately 20–40 euros per month.
The minister also acknowledged that, unfortunately, for pensioners over 80 years old, the majority of their work experience occurred during the Soviet period, and it was not always officially documented, with not everyone having preserved their documents. Therefore, these people need assistance.
"There is a non-taxable minimum of 1,000 euros, full indexing since October of last year, and the only thing we can still do to help these pensioners is to provide supplements for their work experience," said R. Uzulnieks.
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