02.01.2019.
COMMUNICATION
Regarding the malicious and inaccurate claims of the Military Trade Union of Serbia that the existence of members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces in the new year has been jeopardised, and for the sake of true public information we wish to point out the following:
The claims of the Serbian Military Union that members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces were paid salaries and allowances for the last month from the account of the Center for the Protection of Infants, Children and Youth are absolutely untrue.
Earnings for all employees of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces in December, just as it was the case in the previous months, were paid through a regular procedure – regularly from the funds of the Ministry of Defence.
The Ministry of Defence plans its budget and revenues responsibly and precisely. For 2018, sufficient funds have been earmarked for salaries and all types of allowances. All members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces were paid new year's greeting money for each child under 15, in the amount of RSD 2,000.
Also, all operating costs are settled, so the Ministry of Defence has no unsettled obligations in 2018.
The Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces continue to take care of their members and to take concrete measures towards further improvement of their standard. This is also supported by the fact that in the past year, earnings have increased two times – for the first time it was 10 percent increase on 1st December 2017, and the second time nine percent increase as of 1st January 2019.
There was a 10 percent increase in allowances of soldiers, pupils, cadets and persons on other vocational training, and nine percent increase as of 1st January 2019. There was also a 10 percent increase in allowances for outsourced persons hired by the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces under temporary service contracts and fixed-term employment contracts, and nine percent increase as of 1st January 2019.
The budget of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces for 2019 is 35% higher than last year, while the priority items in the budget are the following: improvement of the living standard for members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, procurement of modern weapons and reconstruction of the infrastructure.
