“… Russia has been dipping into its rainy day Reserve Fund to cover the federal budget deficit but this fund is due to run out of money sometime next year. Now the government is actively preparing to dip into its other sovereign fund, the National Welfare Fund, that was set up to meet future pension payments, but now will be […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 20, 2017) Russia has staked its claim as one of the five worst countries in the world for pensioners, according to a new report. The Natixis Global Retirement Index ranks Russia 40th out of 43 countries worldwide – below Turkey, China, and Mexico. Only Brazil, Greece, and India have an even lower score. Russia […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 19, 2017) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has promised not to raise taxes in 2017 and vowed to consider indexing retirement payments for working pensioners, delivering a moderately upbeat annual report on the troubled economy. Addressing the lower house of parliament on April 19, Medvedev said the Russian economy had avoided “catastrophe” despite low world […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 2, 2016) The Russian government doesn’t have to worry about widespread protests over its reported plans to raise the pension age of Russian males in 2018 to one older than their average life expectancy, a Russian scholar in Yakutsk says. The opposition will complain, but it doesn’t have the votes in […]
» Read more
(Interfax – June 2, 2016) Life expectancy in Russia has been growing, but there is a considerable gap between male and female lifespan in the country, experts said. “Male life expectancy exceeded 65 years two years ago, for the first time in Russia’s history. However, the gap between male and female lifespan exceeds 11 years,” laboratory head at the Russian […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – May 28, 2016) Following the Russian-Greek talks, Vladimir Putin met with Russian media representatives. Question: Mr President, may I ask you a question about domestic policy rather than talks with Greece? Vladimir Putin: Are you having trouble sleeping? Remark: I am. The whole country is thinking about this issue. Vladimir Putin: Go ahead. Question: Mr Medvedev visited Crimea […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 23, 2016) Russia’s latest economic reform package is set to cut state spending and raise the retirement age, the Vedomosti newspaper reported Monday. The reforms, which are due to be discussed Wednesday May 25 by President Vladimir Putin’s economic council, will focus heavily on stimulating domestic investment. It is the first time the council […]
» Read more
The Financial Times covers the impact of Russia’s economic downturn on older Russians. Several Russian regions have over the past year been forced to suspend benefit payouts or stop the inflation indexing of public sector wages. … The dramatic slide in crude prices has slashed revenues from the export of oil and gas which account for more than half Russia’s […]
» Read more
(Interfax – December 3, 2015) The average life expectancy in Russia will exceed 71 years in 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to the Russian Federal Assembly on Dec. 3. “The average life expectancy in Russia has grown by more than five years over the past decade and, based on preliminary estimates, it should exceed 71 […]
» Read more
(Interfax – November 11, 2015) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has for the first time definitively supported the future raising of the retirement age without saying when this decision may be made. At present, the retirement age in Russia is 60 years for men and 55 years for women. The Finance Ministry insists there is no other way to resolve […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, November 8, 2015) To the extent that falling prices for natural resources will force Moscow to rely on the development of other sectors, the Russian economy faces another and perhaps even more serious hit in the near term – a dramatically smaller workforce, each of whose members will have to support significantly […]
» Read more
(Interfax – October 20, 2015) Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets has said that the Russian government is not yet planning to raise the pension age. “We are not planning this over the period of time we use for planning. No, we are not,” Golodets told journalists on Tuesday [20 October] when asked when the government was planning to resume discussions […]
» Read more
KRASNOGORSK. Oct 9 (Interfax) – The interim decisions approved for next year in light of the budget deficit do not eliminate the need to raise the retirement age. The draft budget for 2016 approved by the government this week indexes pensions by just 4%, rather than the actual inflation rate in 2015 (about 12%), with an option to conduct a […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. Russian Labor and Social Protection Ministry’s idea of stripping employed senior citizens whose annual remuneration is one million roubles (about $16,500) or more of their old age security pension has sparked a debate in Russian society. In the context of Russia’s modern realities one million roubles is a sum enough to buy an average class car, […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 29, 2014) The number of Russians who regard old age positively has grown over the past 10 years, a poll released Wednesday showed. The poll, conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation, showed 45 percent of respondents said they believed there were distinct advantages to old age, compared to 20 percent a decade ago. A […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 17, 2013) “Time is working for President Putin and his regime” because the aging of the Russian population means that he can rely on the ever greater share of the population of pensioners, some Moscow experts say, but concomitantly time is working against Russia because it is rapidly driving down the […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti) Russia will not consider raising the retirement age until at least 2018, but will encourage people to work longer, the head of the State Pension Fund said Wednesday. President Vladimir Putin said during 2011 electoral campaigning that he was against raising the pension age and has frequently restated this position. Russia’s next presidential elections […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – Karin Zeitvogel – WASHINGTON, September 30, 2013) Russia earns low marks on a global index that rates countries by the quality of life and wellbeing of their old folk, ranking 78th out of 91 countries in the first-ever Global AgeWatch Index released Monday. The index, which lists Sweden at number one and Afghanistan at rock bottom, ranks […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Natalia Yamnitskaya, special to RBTH – March 7, 2013) A “babushka” used to spend her time babysitting grandchildren and gardening, but today’s retirees are taking advantage of a wide range of opportunities. Olga Kuznetsova, who graces the floor of a dance studio in an elegant dress and heels, can hardly be described as […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alina Lobzina – February 12, 2013) Russians have nearly lost their fear of returning to Stalinism while old age and helplessness scare them more, a recent poll showed. The number of those concerned over a new wave of Stalin-era repression, anarchy, and civil wars has shrunk by nine times and 6.5 times respectively in comparison […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anastasia Matveyeva, Moskovskiye Novosti – January 21, 2013) New calculations for pensions and a funded component, a possible luxury tax and a special structure that will come to manage Russian currency reserves are the main economic events that are expected in the coming year. How will these reverberate on us, and what will they will […]
» Read more
(www.opendemocracy.net – Andrei Zaostrovtsev – January 11, 2013) Andrei Zaostrovtsev is lecturer at the M-Centre at the European University, St. Petersburg and professor of the Higher School of Economics One way Vladimir Putin has retained his popularity among Russians has been by increasing retirement pensions and other social benefits, and as a result the state pension fund is deep in […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Olga Tanas – November 14, 2012) Russian President Vladimir Putin backed a planned pension overhaul opposed by the Finance Ministry, Economy Ministry and asset managers, who warn it would curb economic growth. The Labor Ministry plan would divert taxes from future retirement plans to meet current pension payments and narrow the state system’s […]
» Read more