period. For the pregnant wives who depend on the insured husbands, a minimal contribution period of 3 years applies. The calculation base is the average wage in the previous 12 months before establishing the entitlement with the amount of benefit representing 100% of the base. The benefit is paid in one installment at the 30<sup>th</sup> week of pregnancy, for a period of 126 calendar days (140 days in case of complicated deliveries or in case of delivering two or more children). As of end-2017, there were 20,051 beneficiaries of the indemnity of an average amount of 19,373 MDL.

# Social assistance benefits

With an effectively executed amount of 4.9 billion MDL, the social assistance benefits represent around 29% of the total social payments paid by the National Office for Social Insurance. The social assistance benefits are funded by transfers from the state budget.

# Social assistance pensions

By encompassing 14 types of different payments, the social assistance pensions have a share of 27% in total social assistance benefits. They cover such items as: pensions and disability pensions for military, pensions for the loss of breadwinner, pensions to the participants of the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster and / or supplements to pensions paid to some categories from the state social insurance budget. The Table A8 provides details on the number of beneficiaries and typical amount of pension.

**Table A8. Number of beneficiaries of the social assistance pensions and average amount of pension, the** **<u>year 2017</u>**

|**Type of social assistance pension**|**Number of**<br>**beneficiaries,**<br>**persons**|**Average monthly**<br>**amount, MDL**|
|---|---|---|
|**Financial support to the disabledpersons from among the security forces**|**1000**|**3205.22**|
|**Old age pensions for persons from among the security forces**|||
|**Pensions for work experience forpersons from the among the security forces**|**18742**|**4425.83**|
|**Support to the persons who lost their breadwinner. from the among security**<br>**forces**|**1589**|**2097.92**|
|**Pensions to term militaries and their family members**|**794**|**1377.00**|
|**Pensions to participants to the liquidation of the consequences of the**<br>**Chernobyl disaster**|**1802**|**3039.94**|
|**Pensions for MPs**|**260**|**2502.29**|
|**Pensions for members of the Government**|**69**|**2736.08**|
|**Pensions forpublic officials**|**7094**|**1345.51**|
|**Pensions for locally elected officials**|**695**|**1460.96**|
|**Pensions for customs officers**|**13**|**446.19**|
|**Pensions forprosecutors**|**233**|**2385.40**|
|**Pensions forjudges**|**274**|**7860.75**|
|**Pensions for employees from the culture sector**|**27**|**519.06**|

_Source: 2017 Annual Report of the National Office for Social Insurance._

# Social assistance benefits (indemnities)

The total amount of the social assistance benefits (indemnities) in 2017 was roughly 433 million MDL. Among other expenditures, this category includes birth benefits (paid to all) and benefits for raising the children until the age of 2 for non-insured persons. Together, they account for 98% of the social assistance benefits paid in 2017. Other benefits include support to families giving birth to duplets and more children and life-long support to athletes.

The birth benefit represents one-off payment provided to all families following the birth of the new-born children. In 2017 there were 32,400 beneficiaries, each entitled to receive a benefit of 5,300 MDL. The amount of payment is set on discretionary basis by governmental decision and is regularly increased (in 2016 the amount of payment was 3,100/3,400 MDL).

The annual amount of benefits for raising the children up to the age of 2 for non-insured persons totaled 230 million MDL. There were 32,800 beneficiaries, each one receiving 540 MDL on monthly basis (440 MDL in 2016).

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