Statement by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Blendi Klosi following the meeting of the Council of Ministers:

In the recent weeks I have had frequent meetings with associations of former soldiers who rightly demand by the Albanian government a solution for a debt that they owe to the state, not because of them, but because of the various decisions taken by governments over the years.

For 10 years, from 1999 to 2009, soldiers in reserve or retired have received transitional payments, early retirement, or other supplementary benefits. But in this 10-year period laws have changed at least 4 times, and then they have been rejected by the Constitutional Court and repealed by this court.

Consequently, 5425 former servicemen are today indebted to the Albanian state. The previous government not only did not provide the necessary dignity to these men and women who have made sacrifices for the country, but urged them to pay the debt by keeping money from their monthly pension.

In 2013, our government promised to solve the issue of these former servicemen, and today I am pleased to announce on behalf of the Council of Ministers that we kept the promise, by adopting the bill for the remission of debts of the former servicemen in the scheme of supplementary pensions.

Based on these requests, today the Albanian government will write off 984 million ALL of debts that the former servicemen owe to the state. Thanks to this bill, not any penny will be kept to any former soldier from their monthly pension any more.

In addition, the Council of Ministers voted today a number of other important decisions aimed at increasing the social support to people in need. Specifically, we have decided to increase by 60% the basic unemployment benefit, which from 6.850 ALL per month will be 11.000 ALL per month. This is an extremely important decision, not only because of the 60% figure, but because this increase is occurring for the first time after many years of this payment being at low levels. Thanks to this 60% growth of the basic level of the unemployment benefit, Albania fulfils also the obligations arising out of the ILO international convention which states that the unemployment benefit must be at least 50% of the national minimum payment.

At the same time, today’s decision brings more justice to all those who contribute to the social security scheme. Therefore, starting from today, those who have contributed most to the scheme will benefit from the unemployment benefits for a longer period of time. Those who have paid less will certainly benefit less. But our aim is to reduce unemployment in the country as much as possible. For this reason, the employment offices across the country provide for free to every recipient of unemployment benefits a chance to deepen their professional knowledge in the vocational training centres. During the past two years, the number of participants in these programs has doubled, from 8.000 it was in 2013 to 17.000 in the last year.

Today’s decisions of the Council of Ministers are in line with our objective to reduce unemployment and provide a qualitative vocational training to our work force. In addition to the modernization of the employment offices which now provide services like every office in the European Union, in addition to the implementation of the package to promote employment and fivefold funds compared with two years ago, in addition to the reform of vocational education, today’s decisions are a another important step towards boosting employment and increasing prosperity.

All these opportunities come after a better management of the unemployment scheme; they come after the major reforms in the Albanian labour market, and of course they come as a result of an implacable fight against informality, and thanks to the spectacular results that this war has yielded in our country.