The Minister of Labor in the EFKA “strategy” – The “final attack” for pensions in August

August 4, 2022

Robert

“The biggest problem at this time is the State pensions. In recent months, the issuance of pensions by automation has progressed on a significant scale”, says Mr. Hatzidakis

The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Kostis Hatzidakis, visited the coordination center of EFKA for the issuance of pensions and had a meeting with the team which continues to work in August to speed up the issuance of pensions.

Kostis Hatzidakis, in a post he made, after his visit, on his personal Facebook page notes that the race for the issuance of pensions is now in the final stretch and lists specific data on this progress. It even provides answers to basic questions of pensioners-in-waiting.

In detail, the post reads as follows:

“People who are fighting to get their pensions continue the effort in August. At EFKA’s “strategy” for pensions in the so-called “Green Building” in Kifisias, the effort is intensifying. In the working meeting we had with the administrator Panagiotis Doufexis, the head of the Project Team Michalis Kefalogiannis, the general director of Pensions Eleni Niarhakou and the rest of the team, the great progress that has been made so far was recorded. And it became clear that we are in the final stretch. More specifically:

July, although a leave month for some, will prove when the figures are finalized in a few days to be a very good month for decision-making, thanks also to the trust pensions and fast track pensions we have introduced.
2019 applications are heading towards zero.
The corresponding pending applications of 2020 are now at very low rates. Probably under 3%. Correspondingly, great progress has been made on the 2021 pensions. While it is important that for approximately 75% of the applications of the first quarter of 2022 a pension has already been issued. Rate unimaginable until a few months ago!
The biggest problem at this time is the State pensions. In recent months (from May onwards) the issuance of automated pensions has progressed on a significant scale. And there is significant progress in this regard as well. However, we are in contact with the Ministry of Digital Governance and the General Secretariat of Information Systems, to deal with the issue using all the possibilities of technology.
International pensions (ie the pensions of insured persons who also resided abroad) also saw significant progress in July. And for the coming months, I have the commitment of the Administration that a very important effort will be made in this area, despite the limitations that exist due to cooperation with other countries.
In supplementary pensions, for which there is also a slight de-escalation, in the coming months there will certainly be much faster speeds. Precisely because the main ones came out to a very large extent, which is also a basic condition for the secondary ones. Moreover, the fact that requests are now focused on supplementary pensions is proof of the enormous progress that has been made in the main pensions.
For “parallel” pensions (i.e. for the increase in the pension to which a doctor or a lawyer from the State is entitled, for example, who already receive a pension from the State and expect a relative increase from the Social Security Administration or the Legal Fund) the software has now been installed, not only for the latest but also for the older cases. And according to the assurances of the EFKA Administration, it is a matter of 4-5 months to complete the relevant effort.

The effort we are making is not at all simple. The chronic weaknesses of EFKA, combined with the complexity of our insurance system (eg over 1,000 different ways of insurance in the private sector), make this effort even more difficult. We are, however, thanks to the new systems put in place, close to completing the effort for the main pensions – which is also the most basic – but also in a phase of fulfilling all the basic conditions for dealing with the issue of supplementary and “parallel” pensions. Thanks to everyone who contributed to these results. And I invite them to continue at the same pace. All our fellow citizens who reasonably expect to receive their pension as soon as possible are entitled to it.”