Pensioners body accuses Labour ministry, EFKA of delaying pensions

A Greek pensioners’ body has accused the leadership of the Labour Ministry, the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) and the auxilliary pensions fund of delaying on purpose the issuing of new pensions to secure the record surplus the government is presenting to its creditors.

The Unified Pensioners’ Network filed a request for an investigation to an Athens prosecutor on Wednesday asking him to investigate whether criminal offences have been committed against pensioners.

The network claims a total of 180,000 pensions are still pending along with a lump sum of approximately 1.5 billion euros which has still not been paid to pensioners.

The body argues the delays are not only due to the bureaucracy involved in issuing them, but also to the Labour Ministry’s intentional efforts to present a surplus in EFKA’s coffers.

It said delays can reach up to 27 months for main pensions and up to six years for auxiliary pensions, despite repeated requests to speed up the process.