KULOB, December 30, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- To-date, 17,917 pensioners have been registered in the city and the district of Kulob, an official source at the Kulob agency for social protection of the population told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, 3.1 million somoni are needed to pay their monthly pensions and allowances.  “Under the country’s pension system, these funds are accumulated from contributions made to the pension fund by work collectives,” said the source.  “It is to be noted that under the current state of affairs, it is becoming more and more difficult to collect funds for pensions and allowances.”

“Since the beginning of the year, a total of 30.6514 million somoni has been paid to pensioners in the city of Kulob; of this amount, 14.1789 million somoni, or 41.6 percent, are subsidies from Dushanbe,” the source said.

He further added that a unique situation has emerged in the city and the district of Kulob: the number of pensioners there is now higher than the number of working people by 2,500 people.