Although various directions for development have been voiced, the government has not yet made any concrete decisions regarding early retirement pensions, Welfare Minister Reinis Uzulnieks (ZZS) emphasized in an interview with Latvian Radio.
At the same time, he acknowledged that this system clearly needs to be reviewed. He recalled that since 1998, when the Law on Retirement Pensions was adopted, the age for receiving old-age pensions has been regularly raised, but there has always been a lack of political will regarding retirement pensions.
“It is no secret that every two years, starting in 1998, specific categories were lobbied for,” said the minister, emphasizing that, in his opinion, it is not normal for a situation where one can receive an old-age pension from the age of 65, but people who probably should not retire do so at the age of 50 or 55.
He also said that
115 million euros were spent on retirement pensions from the basic budget in 2024,
but in 2030 they would already be around 200 million euros.
He acknowledged that there are many and different options for changes, and discussions are still expected.
It has already been reported that from 2027 there could be several categories that would no longer be covered by the retirement pension system, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (JV) told journalists after a meeting of the Strategic Management Thematic Committee.
She noted that political discussions are continuing on how to organize a retirement pension system that has not changed in the long term. Among other things, Siliņa noted that in many sectors that are currently entitled to retirement pensions, wages have increased in recent years, but there have been no changes in receiving retirement pensions.
However, Siliņa emphasized that this is still only a preliminary discussion – these
issues need to be discussed both at the government level and with trade unions and government cooperation partners.
The regulation of the work of certain professions, such as judges, is the responsibility of the Saeima.
Politicians have been trying to raise the issue of reforms in the retirement pension system for years, but no changes have been made, which is mainly due to the active resistance of employees in the sectors involved to the changes and threats of possible mass layoffs.
It has also been reported that trade unions in several sectors are not at peace with the currently proposed changes to the retirement pension system, therefore an appeal to the Constitutional Court is not ruled out.
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