Serbia Devastated by Poverty

On the basis of recently published official data, concerning the phenomenon of poverty in Yugoslavia, the rate of deprivation increased for about 30%, which is more than ever before. In other words, one third of the citizens of the reduced Yugoslavia (about three million people) can, according to worldly standards be considered poor, and that means that they cannot even cover the elementary living expenses. The experts say that such an increase (the rate of poverty has never gone above 23%) is not surprising, having in mind that the retired people, who live on the edge of starvation, receive their pensions with a delay of several months. Children's allowances, which are used by about 700.000 people, for example, can be late for more than a year - allowances for January 1999 have been distributed recently.

The official information reveal that more than 1,2 million people in Serbia are retired, and they can all be treated as socially deprived. There are also those (1% of all pensioners) who receive pensions of more than 4.000 dinars a month. On the contrary, those with the lowest retirement incomes receive approximately 30 DM per month, with which they can purchase 150 eggs. After Dragoslav Avramovic's program of monetary reconstruction, with one German mark - one could buy ten eggs, today - only five eggs. For an average retirement income, which was 65 DM in 1999, 'even' thirty eggs could be bought, much less than in 1998, when the retired persons hardly managed to make their ends meet with 136 DM per month.

Millions of pensioners, according to worldly standards, are not far from being typical socially deprived cases, with 20 DM as average monthly incomes.
They altogether make the number of those 100.000 people who eat in the so-called public dining halls. That is probably the reason why, as Mirosinka Dinkic, an associate of the Institute of Economics in Belgrade worked out, that 45.000 pensioners die each year, which is again more than ever before.

Just as the opinion poll, conducted by VREME journalists two weeks ago, about average salaries in the former Yugoslav republics, this time the survey of average pensions demonstrates that Slovenia holds the leading place. The lowest retirement income in Slovenia does not go below 600 DM per month, thus comprising ten Serbian pensions. It is superfluous to mention the amount of the highest pension in Slovenia, which is about 2.500 DM per month, whereas the average one is about 780 DM. Even in the Republic of Srpska, people live on a much higher level, if we compare the incomes they receive - roughly 100 DM per month. In Bosnia, the eldest persons receive around 200 DM per month.

Unlike Slovenia, Serbia holds the record in another domain - the rate of unemployed. The experts are even apt to say: 'All right, we cannot fight poverty, but what about the unemployed, and how to prevent people from leaving the country? With such tendencies, we have less probable chances to overcome the crisis.' Officially, in Serbia, about 800.000 persons are unemployed, which is about 25%. If we add those people who are on compulsory holidays, it makes the number of amazing 50% of practically unemployed.

The so-called workers on compulsory vacations live with no more than 230 dinars per month, which scarcely go above 10 DM. Thus, they are the poorest category of the overall population, and it is not unusual that the international humanitarian organisations appeal for collecting financial support for opening more public dining halls. The rate of unemployment in Slovenia, as the most developed country of all former Yugoslav republics is only 13 %, just like in Italy, Spain and France. The number of people on compulsory vacations in these countries is meaningless.

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