BOSNIAN PENSIONERS ASK PETRITSCH FOR HELP WITH PAYMENT OF PENSIONS

ZAGREB, Oct 11 (Hina) - The president of a Bosnian pensioners' association has forwarded a letter to High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch seeking help due to irregular payment of pensions to Croatian citizens who earned the right to pension in Bosnia- Herzegovina. According to Stipo Cicak, most of 8,500 pensioners who should receive pensions from the Bosnian Serb entity have not received their pensions for 15 months and the pensions which have been paid amount to between 80 and 200 convertible marks. Pension funds in Mostar and Sarajevo, which have taken over the payment of pensions for some 11,000 pensioners, are regularly paying pensions but the Sarajevo fund did not pay pensions for last year's October, November and December. "How is it possible for an internationally recognised state to have three pension funds and for each of them to pay pensions as they like and can, to the detriment of pensioners with the same acquired rights," reads Cicak's letter. Cicak requests that Petritsch initiate the unification of the three funds into a single one which would pay pensions to all BH pensioners. He also demands that the two countries sign an agreement on social insurance in order to regulate mutual obligations regarding pensions. "Croatia could not wait to get rid of Bosnian pensioners and our home country, where we earned our pensions, does not seem to want us either," reads the letter. (hina) rml