| A state monopoly may appear in the pension market The government is ready to create another supermonopoly. Now as part of the pension reform. The idea belongs to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref. Yesterday, presenting at a government meeting the draft law “On the procedure for financing payments of the funded part of the labor pension and the peculiarities of investing pension savings of citizens of pre-retirement and retirement age,” he spoke in favor of creating a new state management company. Which, in fact, will take over the accumulated money of Russians of pre-retirement age.
The seemingly technical bill turned out to have strong political implications. The government, obviously, does not want to part with pension money and, in fact, having not yet organized the work of the savings system, is already thinking about how to take control of this market.
Mr. Gref came up with an idea. He argued the emergence of a new monopoly solely by the government's concern for citizens. They say it is necessary to reduce risks when paying the funded part of the pension. According to Mr. Gref, a separate company should be created for this purpose. “It’s a big single wallet. In fact, a huge monopoly that will control hundreds of millions,” said the country’s chief economist. True, he immediately made a reservation: “I am not a supporter of monopolies.” But, apparently, pension money is sacred. And therefore, even in the funded part, the state cannot afford to let them go.
For citizens, this new government-organized care will mean only one thing. Starting from 2009 - as Mr. Gref said - the funded part of the pension of citizens who have five years left before entering their well-deserved retirement, as well as pensioners, will be transferred to the account of the state monopolist. To use the language of German Gref, these funds will go to the annuity reserve. The managing state monopolist will invest them in strictly specified assets. Mainly in government securities.
No one in the Cabinet of Ministers doubts that Russian government securities are more reliable than any market shares or foreign currency assets. There is also no doubt that with the help of pensioners’ money the government will solve its own problems. First of all, to support the domestic financial market. The estimated amount of money that the new state monopoly will have at its disposal exceeds 300 billion rubles.
That the government first of all thinks about the benefits of the state, and then about guaranteeing the risks of citizens, became clear from the speech of the head of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, Mikhail Zurabov. He said that when discussing the new draft law, the ministers were very actively thinking about what the economy could get from a powerful investment portfolio that would absorb a significant part of the savings system’s funds.
There were no opponents to the creation of a new monopoly at the cabinet meeting. True, Mr. Zurabov was the first, apparently so that the pension reform would not turn into profanation, to propose developing the pension investment market. The head of the Federal Service for Financial Markets, Oleg Vyugin, also spoke in favor of removing unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions. He turned out to be the bravest of all and even stated that the Russian financial market is too narrow, and it is necessary to enter global platforms, in particular the London Stock Exchange. But then Mr. Gref spoke sharply: “I don’t like the proposal that our pension money should move to Western markets. We need to create conditions here.”
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov immediately invited cabinet members to immediately begin creating these conditions. “The Minister of Finance invested in a private company,” said the Prime Minister, “but I didn’t invest anywhere. I'm waiting for Vyugin to create a market. Then I’ll invest.”
In addition to the desire to control pension savings as such, at the cabinet meeting they talked a little about the interests of citizens. Mr. Gref said that the government has determined the “average survival period” to be 19 years. This is approximately how many years the average Russian lives after retirement. The head of the Ministry of Economic Development assured the audience that if a pensioner lives longer than the specified period, he will still be paid a pension. “Well, a ballerina’s time frame will be different than that of an ordinary pensioner,” Mr. Gref explained his thought.
It also turned out that if a citizen dies, the funded part of the pension, which by the time it is actually paid out will be in the hands of the state, will remain with the state. Relatives can only claim a monthly payment. “This is world practice,” Mr. Gref said for everyone’s understanding. The prime minister nevertheless corrected his minister’s words as best he could: “Citizens, don’t worry, if it doesn’t go to you, it will go to your relatives through the economy.” Vera KUZNETSOVA |
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