Majority polled want to see benefits docked

VILNIUS - Lithuania's financial woes have led the government to
consider the value of each centas and make "unpopular decisions" in
search of some budgetary breathing room. These pressures may lead to
tinkering with the pension system, according to the Social Security
and Labor Ministry.

A government project in formative stages could limit pension
payments dished to people of retirement age who are still working.
There are about 640,000 Lithuanians of pension age, currently 62 for
men and 57 for women, Vyas Usas, spokesman for the Social Security
and Labor Ministry, said. About 106,000 pensioners are still trying
to make ends meet by working.

"The ministry is now working on changes in the law on state social
insurance," said Usas. "When [the ministry] finishes its work on the
project, this will be given to the government for consideration and
then passed onto Seimas [the Lithuanian parliament]. So maybe by the
end of this year there will be some changes."

To bolster Lithuania's slumping financial situation, the new
government said it will make other unpopular decisions, like
postponing a ruble compensation program for a couple of years. With
the state social insurance company, Sodra, currently running a
deficit of around 400 million litas ($100 million), and few banks
anxious to lend it money, a touchy area such as pensions is not
exempt from change.

"[Given the financial circumstances,] all areas are in trouble," said
Eugenija Martinaityte, director of the Lithuanian Banking, Insurance
and Finance Institute. "But social security is the most sensitive."

A recent survey conducted by the Vilmorus polling firm, however,
shows that the limitations being considered in the ministry's pension
project are generally favored by the population. In fact, about
two-thirds of the Lithuanians polled support some kind of limitation.
A little less than a third said they would like to see pensioners who
work receive absolutely nothing from the state pension fund while
another 14.5 percent think they should receive the basic pension of
138 litas per month.

Still another 23.1 percent support the idea of adjusting a person's
pension according to the salary he is receiving.

For example, if a person receives the minimum monthly salary of 430
litas per month, he could also receive the full amount of his
pension. But if the pensioner earns more than that minimum, he should
receive only the basic pension. The remaining third of respondents
would like to see pensioners receive their entire pension regardless
of how much they earn on the side.