More than 2.2 mln OFE re-applicants

As of August 7, more than 2.2 million Poles have declared that they want part of their pension contributions to private pension funds (OFEs), according to data provided by the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). The figure exceeds earlier estimates. A week earlier ZUS president Zbigniew Derdziuk said that the number of applications would not exceed 2 million. After changes in the Polish pension system, employed persons were entitled to choose whether all of their pension contribution should go to ZUS or a 2.92  percent income deduction would be sent to a chosen pension fund. The latter option required sending a form to ZUS. July 31 was the deadline for submitting the declarations. A large number of them were sent by post and they continued to flow in to ZUS throughout last week.