Mane Tandilyan: there will not be citizens in Armenia, whose pensions  are not enough even for the food basket

ArmInfo. Today, many citizens of Armenia receive a very low pension, in some cases it can even go about old-age benefits. This was announced by the Minister of Labor  and Social Affairs Mane Tandilyan at a press conference on August 22  summing up the results of 100-day work.

Tandilyan noted that nothing can justify the fact that there are  extremely poor pensioners in the country.  These are the citizens  who, for whatever reason, receive extremely low pensions, which are  not enough even for the food basket. "There will not be citizens in  our country who receive a pension that will not be enough for a food  basket, about 80 thousand citizens, I want to emphasize that we have  already reached an agreement on this issue." The fact is that this is  also a matter of resources , but we must realize that our country is  obliged to provide its citizens with means for life, "the minister  said, stressing that in 2016 the minimum food basket cost 23,000  drams, and today its size is estimated at 25,000 drams.

Tandilyan also noted that it is preferable to raise the pensions of  those citizens who receive extremely low pensions than raising all  pensions without exception by about 1 thousand drams.

During the press conference, the minister also touched on the payment  of compensation to Armenian citizens on deposits in the USSR Savings  Bank. According to Tandilyan, these payments will continue in the  same order, namely, they will be paid first of all to those who were  born before 1932. The Minister also noted that there are restrictions  on the amount. "Unfortunately, the funds provided do not allow us to  fully resolve this issue," the minister said, stressing that the  ministry intends to review this issue, after which additional  information will be provided on this matter.