Insurance

By Roula Salourou

The International Monetary Fund has proposed the introduction of a single set of regulations for calculating social security contributions and taxes, as well as a common rate of contributions for all workers insured in social security funds, i.e. both salaried workers and the self-employed.

Insurance companies will have to pay out more than 4 million euros in compensation to customers who were affected by the floods that followed a sudden bout of heavy rain in Athens on October 24.

According to the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (EAEE), 328 homes and businesses suffered damage, leading to claims of 2.7 million euros.

The private health insurance funds claim hospitals are cashing in for one and the same thing from several places, their prices have "reached monstrous levels and have gotten out of control", reports the BNT public broadcaster.

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Keeping the minimum wage at its 2014 levels and slashing money for salaries in the administration by 10 percent are among the core points of next year's draft budget published on the Finance Ministry's website.

The latter move is related to a process of "optimization" that state structures are expected to undergo in 2014.

Rosen Nikolov, head of Bulgaria's Deposits Insurance Fund (DIF) had resigned, said the government press office.

The motives for the resignation are not given.

The capital adequacy ratios of the subsidiaries of the banking groups operating on the Romanian market, included in the assessments conducted in Europe, are higher than the regulated thresholds, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) announced on Monday in a press release.

BELGRADE - The Executive Board of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) voted to retain its key policy rate at 8.5 percent, assessing that risks stemming from the domestic and international environment call for further caution in the pursuance of monetary.

At least BGN 0.5B more is needed for healthcare in 2015, President of the Bulgarian Medical Association, Dr. Tsvetan Raychinov said in an interview for Bulgaria's Telegraph Agency.

"The money for next year's healthcare sector should not be less than this year's, including the update of BGN 225M that was already made once this year, and the BGN 117M for next year," Raychinov noted.

Two employees of the Social Insurance Institute (IKA) were suspended on Tuesday and ordered to appear before a disciplinary panel after it emerged that they had wrongfully issued documents to 703 people, allowing them to obtain health coverage and, in cases where they were migrants, residence permits.

A total of 1.417 million Bulgarians subject to obligatory health insurance did not pay their installments in 2013, according to the National Statistical Institute (NSI).

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