About 10% Of Romania’s Special Pensions To See Avg Reduction Of EUR1,500 – Labor Min

About 10% of special pensions in Romania could be reduced by an average EUR1,500 following recalculation under the new pension law, but reduction could be by as much as 80%, Labor Minister Mihai Seitan said Thursday, adding magistrates, aviators and diplomats would be the most affected.

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Seitan said the reduction of special pensions would be in direct ratio with retirees' revenues for the last three months of employment, revenues based on which their pensions were so far calculated.

The new pension law applies the principle of contributiveness and calculates pensions in ratio to a retiree's overall social security contributions.

The labor minister said Romania currently has about 200,000 retirees receiving special pensions, of which 25,000 could drop by an average EUR1,500 following recalculation.

Seitan said the pensions of staff in the military, police and secret services will be recalculated depending on the wages they earned, even if the state paid the bulk of their social security contributions.

The minister also said magistrates, aviators, diplomats and lawmakers would see the biggest reductions in their pensions, which were so far required by law to reach 80% of their salaries.

He said prosecutors and judges get an average pension of 8,599 lei (EUR1=RON4.1287), although their social security contributions indicate they should get only RON1,709. Aviators will also see sharp reductions in their pensions, which so far averaged at RON9,185 although they only contributed for RON1,812. diplomats, who have average pensions of RON4,121 will be left with RON1,961, while lawmakers, who so far got an average pension of RON3,645, will get an average RON2,124.

The minister said the country's public pension system had become unsustainable and ran the risk of posting a deficit of as much as 6 of the country's gross domestic product by 2025.

He said the new pension law has been sent to the Parliament for approval and debates in the Senate are set to start next week.

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