It is no longer a secret to anyone: President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin made a shocking statement that when planning a pension reform, the government expected a positive financial result for the country's budget for several years of reform implementation, but after a number of presidential amendments, it became obvious that these pension events can lead to the result exactly the opposite …
Presidential amendments to soften pension reform
Considering all the options for possible amendments on the issue of pension reform in Russia, President Vladimir Putin proposed to introduce a number of corrective points:
1. Given that women work not only at work, but also in the family, these are: childcare, housekeeping, taking care of the family and households, the president insisted on raising the retirement age of the weak half of humanity not to 63, but only to 60 years. At the same time, the retirement age for men remains within the previously proposed 65 years.
2. Workers retiring in the next two years are asked to be given the right to retire six months before the new retirement age. For example, an employee whose pension becomes eligible in August 2020 will be able to do so as early as February 2020.
3. To receive early retirement benefits, work experience will be: for women - at least 37 years, for men - 42 years.
4. Non-working pensioners living in rural areas who have at least 30 years of experience in the indicated area will receive a 25 percent supplement to the fixed amount of the insurance pension from 01.01.2019.
5. It is envisaged to preserve pension benefits for workers whose work is associated with a particular danger, increased severity, the presence of injuries and other factors (gas pollution, radiation background, noise level, lighting, etc.), i.e. persons involved in hazardous conditions of mining, chemical industries, as well as working at hot prices, in metallurgical, glass industries, oil and gas, coal and shale processing plants, the manufacture of explosives, cellulose, etc. Preservation of benefits is provided also for other categories of Russian citizens: Chernobyl victims, indigenous peoples of the North, etc.
6. The age that is officially considered pre-retirement has been determined - 5 years before the employee retires. This category of citizens will be entitled to double the amount of unemployment benefits. Amendments have also been made to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation: for persons of pre-retirement age, from 01.01.2019, in a declarative manner, at work, two paid days will be provided to undergo medical examination in a polyclinic at the place of residence.
7. Employers who refuse to hire or have dismissed an employee of pre-retirement age face administrative liability, and in some cases even criminal.
8. Awaiting retirement benefits and women with three or more children. Thus, mothers who have raised 3 or 4 children will be able to retire 3 or, respectively, 4 years earlier than they should. And women with five or more children will retire after 50 years.
Positive aspects of pension reform
The President noted that the positive aspects of the upcoming pension reform, which, according to V. Putin, cannot be avoided, should be considered the following:
1. The reform will lead to an annual increase in pension payments for non-working pensioners.
2. We forecast the stabilization of economic growth in our country against the background of a decrease in the unemployment rate and, as a result, an increase in the life expectancy of Russians.
3. Achievement of the main goal is to ensure a stable pension system, as well as an increase in pension payments for both current and future pensioners in Russia.
