Croatian pensioners to receive extra payment as COVID relief in coming weeks

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that an agreement has been reached with pensioners' representatives regarding COVID relief that will be paid to about 850,000 seniors in the end of April or early May.

The COVID supplements will be tax-free and not subject to enforcement collection.

"In this budget situation, we have done the most we could and hope that this one-off payment will nevertheless help our pensioners to ease their situation to some extent," said Plenković after a meeting with pensioners' associations.

The one-off supplement will be paid to relieve the consequences caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. The grant will be paid according to several categories, he explained.

The highest amount will be paid to recipients of the lowest pension allowance. Seniors receiving a pension allowance of up to HRK 1,500  will receive a one-off grant of HRK 1,200.

Pensioners with an allowance of between HRK 1,500 and HRK 2,000 will receive HRK 900 and those with a pension of HRK 2,000 to HRK 3,000 will receive HRK 600, while pensioners with an allowance of HRK 3,000 to HRK 4,000 will receive HRK 400.

Plenković underscored that supplement will be tax free, it cannot be included in any enforcement notices nor be added to any assets test that may affect free health insurance supplements.

An estimated that about 850,000 pensioners will receive the one-off payment, which will require about HRK 600 million from the state budget.

Text: Hina

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