Minister of Labour

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Labour, Employment and Veteran and Social Affairs Nikola Selakovic met with Azerbaijan's Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population Sahil Babayev in Belgrade on Thursday.

After July 1, pensions will increase by 12%, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ivanka Shalapatova told bTV.

She stated that Finance Minister Asen Vassilev confirmed that there is money in the budget for the increase in pensions under the so-called swiss rule

This means that pensions from 467 leva will increase to 523 leva.

Ivailo Kalfin has been elected Executive Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), the Bulgarian Labour and Social Policy Ministry said in a press release on Friday.

Describing the new social security bill that was passed on Thursday in Parliament with 158 votes in favor and 128 against, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said it marks a "very important step forward" that safeguards pensions for the next 50 years.

Bulgaria has a substantial reserve on the labour market of over 200,000 people of working age who are inactive.

Prompting these people to be active and seeking employment opportunities for people with disabilities is a priority of the national employment action plan for next year, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy Lazar Lazarov told reporters.

The number of the foreign workers registered for seasonal employment in Bulgaria has increased significantly since the beginning of this year. This was announced at a press conference in Smolyan by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Biser Petkov.

A prominent conservative MP and former minister, Yiannis Vroutsis, on Tuesday called on the Labor Ministry to respond to allegations that its online system for Single Social Security Fund (EFKA) pension applications was tampered with and thousands of applications removed.

With 163 votes in favor and no "against" MPs adopted the first reading of the Social Services Act, reported the Bulgarian National Television. It is the third of a set of laws that mothers of disabled children insist on accepting.

In recent years, income policy has allowed an increase in the average wage in Bulgaria with rates close to 10 percent, and this is one of the highest levels in the EU.

Serbia and Slovakia signed on Monday a protocol on cooperation between in the field of labor and employment, the Serbian government announced.

The protocol was singed in Bratislava by Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment Veteran and Social Affairs Zoran Djordjevic and Slovak Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family Jan Richter.