Romanian PM Says About 7,000 Military Pensions To Be Reduced Under Pension Bill

He said retirees in the military system who currently get pensions between 3,000 and more than 5,000 lei (EUR1=RON4.1597) will have their pensions reduced under the bill.

Boc said Romania has 13,164 retired military staff with monthly pensions below RON1,000, 45,667 retirees with pensions between RON1,000 and RON2,000 and 15,956 retirees with pensions between RON2,000 and RON3,000. The prime minister assured these people will not have their military pensions reduced under the bill.

The prime minister also said a total 6,245 people get pensions between RON3,000 and RON4,000, 797 people get pensions between RON4,000 and RON5,000 and 208 people get over RON5,000, bring the total to 7,250 retirees in the military system to have their pensions reduced.

Romania's Defense Minister Gabriel Oprea said earlier this month a recent calculation scenario indicated that pensions of military staff would be reduced by 19% up to 69% upon the enforcement of the country's new unitary pension law.

Mid-March, sources close to the matter said the representatives of the Ministries of Defense and Interior, the Romanian Intelligence Service SRI, the Romanian Guard and Protection Service SPP, the Special Telecommunications Service STS and the Foreign Intelligence Service SIE plan to propose a series of amendments to the country's new unitary pension law if it leaves out the current pension regulations for these categories.

Mid-February, the Defense Ministry said nearly 9% of military pensions, namely 7,265 out of 81,183 military pensions, top RON3,001 and 209 of them exceed RON5,000.

The ministry also said the average military pension amounts to nearly RON1,700 and in February, a total 81,183 military pensions were paid on a monthly basis. The minimum pension amounts to RON39 and in February, a total 12,942 retirees were paid pensions ranging from RON39 to RON1,000.

Currently, 72% of military pensions are below the RON2,000 threshold and 90.2% are below RON3,000.

Military pensions are currently calculated based on the monthly military pay which does not include the bonuses and indemnities granted in accordance with salary laws, unlike the public sector laws which consider these salary rights.

The Romanian Government approved mid-February a draft law reforming the country's public pension system, which is now under debate in Senate and should be enacted by June.

Under the new pension law, special pensions, such as those of lawmakers military, law enforcement and intelligence services staff, will be recalculated and therefore reduced. Prime Minister Emil Boc said the recalculation of special pensions would generate savings of EUR500 million to EUR800 million.

Romania has pledged to cut public spending and reform its pension system under an IMF-led international bailout package of nearly EUR20 billion.

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