CROATIAN DELEGATION STUDIES THE BULGARIAN PENSION REFORM EXPERIENCE

A Croatian delegation visited Bulgaria in January 2002 to study the Bulgarian experience in the field of pension insurance. Officials from the state agencies in Zagreb, REGOS and HAGENA and their colleagues met with Bulgarian counterparts and experts and discussed issues concerning the organization and operation of supplementary mandatory pension insurance. REGOS is the Croatian agency similar to the Bulgarian National Social Security Institute, but it only services supplementary pension insurance in private pension funds. HAGENA is the Croatian pension regulator.

During its three-day visit the 12-member delegation got acquainted with the successful aspects, but also with the problems faced by the pension reform in Bulgaria. In their meetings with experts from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the National Social Security Institute and pension funds, they discussed the Bulgarian experience at the different stages of implementation of the pension reform, among which the choice of a pension fund, formal distribution, the processing of information, the structure of the IT systems, the transparency of the system, etc. 

So far the Croatian Republic has reformed the first pillar of it social security system, and is now focusing its efforts on creating a fully functional supplementary pension insurance pillar. The establishment of the voluntary third pillar is pending.

 Three Croatian journalists accompanying the delegation met with some Bulgarian colleagues, and discussed differences between the two social security systems and the standard of living in both countries.

 The visit was financed and organized by USAID.

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