September 9, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The draft decree on the payment of a one-time allowance to pensioners and public sector employees will soon be submitted by the government to the Presidential Administration for consideration. This was announced today, in response to a question from a BELTA correspondent, by the Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus, Marianna Shchetkina, during her visit to the Vitebsk boarding house for the elderly and disabled while monitoring the work of social service institutions in the Vitebsk region. "The document has been coordinated with all interested departments. The Council of Ministers will submit it to the Presidential Administration in the near future. Everything is being done to sign this decree as soon as possible," the minister said. Marianna Shchetkina drew attention to the fact that the ministry is already receiving calls regarding payments. She explained that this requires some time. In particular, it is necessary to consolidate funds and prepare a software product. The minister noted that the one-time allowance concerns a very large number of people: there are 1,847,000 non-working pensioners in Belarus alone, and about 1 million public sector employees. "It is important not to miss a single person, not a single category, to think everything through carefully," she stressed. Regarding the amount of the one-time allowance, the minister recalled that non-working pensioners and public sector employees will receive Br500,000 each. "If we are talking about any additional categories, this will be known after the decree is published," added Marianna Shchetkina, emphasizing that the draft document was prepared in the shortest possible time and will be signed in the shortest possible time. -0-

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