Kudrin found shortcomings in Medvedev's pension reform

Having reviewed the bill on raising the retirement age, the Accounts Chamber found shortcomings in it, writes the BBC Russian Service. There are three of them:

• The bill does not contain calculations that determine how exactly raising the retirement age will contribute to the creation of “conditions for the annual indexation of pensions above the inflation rate.”
• The conditions under which the Russian pension system can be considered balanced and financially sustainable in the long term are not specified.
• There are no forecasts about how exactly the number of pension recipients will change. Because of this, it is impossible to estimate how the number of pensioners will change given the planned measures to increase life expectancy.

However, the department has no conceptual comments on the draft law. The head of the department, Alexei Kudrin, signed the review.

Context

• Kudrin has long been a supporter of raising the retirement age. The Center for Strategic Research, which he headed before joining the Accounts Chamber, developed a version of pension reform similar to the one proposed by the government. The difference between the two projects is in the timeframe for implementing the reform: Kudrin proposed extending the reform for both men and women until 2034, while the government proposed raising the retirement age for men until 2028. In early 2018, Kudrin assured that with the increase in the retirement age, the size of pensions in real terms could increase by 30%.
• On July 17, the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy, and Veterans Affairs supported the bill on increasing the retirement age. At the same time, the deputies proposed to further study the objectivity of the proposed retirement age limits. They also warned that additional measures may be required in connection with the possible decline in the standard of living of pre-retirement age Russians. Options for a possible softening of the pension reform are being discussed in United Russia.
• The Kremlin is distancing itself from the reform: Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Vladimir Putin is not participating in the discussion of the bill. We wrote about the reform in detail here and here .
• The unpopularity of the pension reform has caused the first silent revolt of regional authorities in many years. Only 11 Russian regional parliaments have expressed full support for the reform; the rest are either distancing themselves or keeping silent.

Liana Faizova