Skopje, 7 March 2022 (MIA) – Average monthly pension by the end of last year was estimated at 15,876 denars (nearly EUR 260). According to projections, it is likely to raise up to 17,300 denars (EUR 280) by the end of 2022, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said Monday. Last Friday, the government, associations of pensioners and the Party of Pensioners reached an agreement to change the methodology for alignment and increase of pensions, along with additional financial support for pensioners in the amount of 1,000 denars for the months of April, May and June. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Stanka Trajkova, president of the organization of pensioners, Kovachevski stated that the new methodology will allow pensions to rise in the coming years as well. The government, he noted, considers the cooperation with the association of pensioners and all relevant social stakeholders very important because we make the decisions in consultation with them. Direct aid, included in the March, April and May pension, will be awarded to almost 330,000 pensioners. The aid, PM Kovachevski said, will be paid from the pension fund, which is in good shape. The government, he announced, will start to apply the new methodology immediately. “Pensioners will receive their increased pensions as of September,” Kovachevski said. The new methodology will be regulated under a law. “It means pensions will not be regulated according to a bill by any future government, but by legislation that offers sound and unbiased solution,” stated Stanka Trajkova.