The East German federal states raised around 2.68 billion euros for the supplementary and special pensions of the GDR last year. This is according to provisional figures from the Ministry of Finance in Saxony-Anhalt, which have been made available to the German Press Agency. Around 400 million euros were spent in this federal state alone.
In the GDR era, there were 27 supplementary pension schemes for individual occupational groups, for example in the healthcare sector. There were special pensions for members of the German People's Police, among others. Today, several hundred thousand people in Germany benefit from these payments.
The benefits were transferred to the statutory pension insurance scheme following reunification. Initially, 60 percent of the costs of the supplementary pension were borne by the East German states and 40 percent by the federal government. At the beginning of 2021, the federal government increased its share to 50 percent.
This is not enough for Saxony-Anhalt Minister President Reiner Haseloff (CDU). He is calling for further relief for the federal states. "With Angela Merkel, we at least always managed to resolve the issue one slice at a time. The current federal government is ignoring the burden on the eastern states," said Haseloff. "We as federal states are not the legal successors of the GDR, the Federal Republic of Germany is. That's why the federal government is responsible for pensions."
The total burden on the eastern states has recently increased. While around 2.53 billion euros were due in 2022, preliminary figures show that this figure was around 144 million euros higher last year.
According to the Ministry of Finance in Saxony-Anhalt, the issue could soon be discussed again between the federal and state governments. The distribution of funding will probably be discussed at the next conference of minister presidents of the eastern states, a spokesperson said. Saxony-Anhalt has chaired this conference since December.
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