RUSSIALINK: “Putin Announces $7Bln Pre-Election Handouts” – Moscow Times
Putin has called for one-off cash payments to be awarded to Russia’s pensioners and military service personnel in a highly anticipated pre-election move […]
» Read moreCategory: Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees
RUSSIALINK: “Russia Reaches Record Life Expectancy of 73.4 Years” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 21, 2020) Russians’ average life expectancy reached a historic record of 73.4 years in 2019, the country’s Health Ministry was quoted by Interfax as saying Tuesday. The increase from 2018, when average life expectancy stood at a little over 73 years, is attributed to a 3.5% decrease in male mortality and a 2.1% decrease […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “‘An Inescapable Phase of Life’: Fighting Loneliness Among Russia’s Elderly; Already saddled with meager pensions, Russia’s elderly also face another hardship: solitude” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Evan Gershkovich – March 25, 2019 – themoscowtimes.com/2019/03/25/an-inescapable-phase-of-life-fighting-loneliness-among-russias-elderly-a64935) When Lydia Kondrashova’s husband died in 1994, her pension wasn’t enough to keep her afloat. So she left her longtime home in southern Russia to move in with her youngest daughter in Mytishchi, a Moscow suburb. Two decades later, however, the arrangement had run its course. The […]
» Read moreEver More Russians Drawing Analogies between Russia Now and Russia in 1917, Kagarlitsky Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, January 15, 2019) Ever more Russians are drawing analogies between their country today and its situation in 1917 and between Vladimir Putin and the last tsar Nicholas II, sociologist and commentator Boris Kagarlitsky says; and this is quite “logical” given the tone deaf reaction of the powers that be in both cases […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Medvedev: Pension Reform Was Hardest Decision of the Past Decade” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 6, 2018) Russia’s prime minister on Thursday said that this summer’s decision to raise the retirement age was the hardest the authorities have had to make in the past 10 years. Dmitry Medvedev, who became prime minister in 2012 and served as Russia’s president for a four-year term starting in 2008, announced plans to raise […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Putin’s Approval Rating Lowest Since 2013 – Poll” – Moscow Times/ Levada Center
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 25, 2018) President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has fallen to 66 percent, its lowest level since 2013, according to a recent poll published by the independent Levada Center. Putin’s popularity has been hurt by controversial legislation he signed earlier this month to raise the pension eligibility age to 65 for men and 60 for […]
» Read more‘They’ve Stolen Everything’: In Russia’s Far East, Dreams Deferred Amid Grim Mood Over Pension Reform
(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Matthew Luxmoore – October 14, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/in-russia-s-far-east-dreams-deferred-amid-grim-mood-over-pension-reform/29542683.html) USSURIYSK, Russia — An unusually warm spell in early October filled this Far Eastern city’s central square with couples and schoolkids enjoying the last bright evenings before the onset of winter. Steps from the main landmark, a monument honoring […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s pension reform still seen as unjust, but less willing to protest” – bne Intellinews [Sept. 27, 2018]
“The number of Russians willing to protest … unpopular pension reform and the hiking of the retirement age has dropped … from 53% in September to 35% in August, according to [the] Levada Center …. confirm[ing] previous reports that … Putin scaling back the reform managed to calm the masses. … [But] downplaying and squeezing the reform, despite popular discontent, […]
» Read moreRussians Are Much Less Willing to Protest Retirement Age Hike, Poll Says
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 27, 2018) Fewer Russians are willing to take to the streets against government plans to raise the retirement age, according to an independent Levada Center poll. A majority of Russian respondents said they were willing to join protests against the unpopular reform in August, before President Vladimir Putin introduced several concessions to quell public […]
» Read moreRussian Retirement-Age Hike Advances As Putin’s Adjustment Approved
(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – September 26, 2018 – article also appeared at rferl.org/a/duma-approves-putin-s-revised-proposal-to-raise-retirement-age-for-women/29510648.html) An unpopular plan to raise the retirement age has advanced in the Russian legislature after lawmakers overwhelmingly approved President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to limit the increase for women to five years — to age 60 — instead of eight. Deputies […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Pension bill passes 2nd reading in State Duma, 3rd reading due on Thursday” – Interfax
MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax) – Russia’s State Duma has passed the second and main reading of the bill on pension reform, which envisages a gradual increase of the retirement age. The deputies unanimously (385 votes) supported all amendments to the bill initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. A total of 326 deputies voted for the bill at the second reading, […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Zyuganov calls for gathering political elites in Kremlin, scrapping pension reform” – Interfax
MOSCOW. Sept 25 (Interfax) – Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov has declared the necessity of a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and the political elites to discuss the domestic situation, including the possibility of scrapping the pension reform. “Once again, I insist that he [the president] gather influential people in the Kremlin so that we could discuss the unfolding […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Depoliticization in Russia: The Growth of the Protest Vote” – Carnegie Moscow/Andrey Pertsev
“Unhappy with plans to raise the retirement age, the decline in their living standards, and tax hikes, Russians can’t vote for the real opposition. Strong candidates are either not allowed to run or prefer to cooperate with the authorities by not running, while in-system parties deliberately tone down their rhetoric. Under such conditions, the protest vote becomes random: people are […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Authorized protest against higher retirement age held in Novosibirsk” – Interfax
NOVOSIBIRSK. Sept 13 (Interfax) – A protest against the higher retirement age took place in Novosibirsk on Thursday at the initiative of the Novosibirsk regional federation of trade unions. ‘The organizers expected a 3,000 turnout, yet the Interior Ministry counted 600 people at the rally,” Novosibirsk city administration spokesman Sergei Polyansky told Interfax. The chair of the Novosibirsk regional federation […]
» Read moreDifferences between Male and Female Life Expectancy in Russia ‘Largest in the World,’ New Study Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, September 10, 2018) On average, women in Russia live 11 years longer than men do, according to a study conducted by Russian and Western scholars that has been published in Britain’s authoritative medical journal, The Lancet (thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31485-5/fulltext). The study focused on trends between 1980 and 2016 and noted that the difference between […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “A Just Russia offers Communists to pool efforts for pension referendum – Mironov” – Interfax
ROSTOV-ON-DON. Sept 3 (Interfax) – The parliament factions of the Russian Communist Party and A Just Russia should pool efforts to make the pension referendum happen, A Just Russia’s faction leader Sergei Mironov said at a press conference in Rostov-on-Don. “I have offered our Communist Party colleagues in the State Duma to combine efforts [towards holding the referendum]. Clearly, everything […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Liability for firing people of pre-pension age may bar them from employment – FNPR head” – Interfax
MOSCOW. Aug 31 (Interfax) – The introduction of criminal liability for employers who dismiss people of pre-pension age may have a negative effect on workers, Mikhail Shmakov, the head of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR), said. “We need to be very careful about the proposal to introduce criminal liability for employers hiring or dismissing people of […]
» Read moreLadies’ Man: Putin Cites ‘Caring Attitude’ In Pension-Reform Concession
(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Carl Schreck – Aug. 29, 2018 – also appeared at https://www.rferl.org/a/ladies-man-putin-cites-caring-attitude-in-pension-reform-concession/29460024.html) Russian President Vladimir Putin reserved the weightiest of his cautious concessions on a controversial pension-reform plan for Russian women, who outnumber their male counterparts by 10 million and live — and vote — considerably longer. Citing what he called […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin Dials Back Pension Plan After Backlash” – Wall Street Journal/Ann M. Simmons
“… Putin softened a plan to raise pension ages to bolster state finances, a rare backtrack following a public outcry that cut his approval ratings to the lowest level in more than four years. … Putin proposed that the pension age for women be increased from 55 to 60 instead of the 63 years proposed by parliament. He didn’t propose […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “The [Russian] President’s address to Russian citizens [re pension reform]” – KremlinRu
(Kremlin.ru – August 29, 2018 – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/58405) President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Citizens of Russia, friends, On June 16, 2018, the Government submitted to the State Duma a draft law on reforming the pension system, and on June 19, the draft passed its first reading in Parliament. The law’s main purpose is to ensure that the pension system remains sustainable […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “The State Duma Debated Pension Reform. Here’s What You Need to Know; Russian experts review the State Duma’s two-day discussion on the unpopular bill” Moscow Times/EVAN GERSHKOVICH
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – EVAN GERSHKOVICH – August 22, 2018) The State Duma convened this week to discuss the widely unpopular pension reform bill announced earlier this summer. Under the proposed bill, the retirement age for men would increase from 60 to 65 years by 2028, and from 55 to 63 by 2034 for women. Opponents of the proposal […]
» Read moreYes Or No: Is A Referendum In The Cards Over Russian Pension Reform?
(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Lyubov Chizhova, Robert Coalson – MOSCOW, August 10, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/yes-or-no-is-a-referendum-in-the-cards-over-russian-pension-reform-/29426658.html) It has been a quarter century since the Russian government asked its citizens their opinion on anything in a formal national referendum. But a proposed referendum on the hot-button issue of raising retirement ages moved one […]
» Read moreThere is No “Reform” in Russia’s Recent “Pension Reform” Bill | Interview with Evgeny Gontmakher
(PONARS Eurasia – Maria Lipman, Evgeny Gontmakher – July 26, 2018) [Text of interview here ponarseurasia.org/article/there-no-reform-russias-recent-pension-reform-bill-interview-evgeny-gontmakher] Maria Lipman speaks with Evgeny Gontmacher about the political and socioeconomic implications of raising the retirement age. Gontmacher is the deputy director responsible for social policy projects and recommendations at Aleksei Kudrin’s Committee of Civil Initiatives. Over 1992-2003, he held positions as Head of […]
» Read moreDemography Being Abused in Russian Pension Age Debate, Vishnevsky Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 22, 2018) Both supporters and opponents of the Russian government’s plan to raise retirement ages frequently invoke demographic statistics; but all too often, Anatoly Vishnevsky of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, they use these figures incorrectly and thus make it more difficult for Russia to solve some of its problems. In […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Communists push for a national referendum against raising the retirement age” – Meduza
“Russia’s Central Election Commission has received a notice from the Communist Party about possibly holding a national referendum on raising the country’s retirement age …. [asking] ‘Do you agree that the age in the Russian Federation at which citizens are entitled to old-age social insurance should not increase?’ … the State Duma [has] passed the first reading of draft legislation […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin] Conversation with 2018 FIFA World Cup volunteers. [Excerpt re: Pension Reform]; During his visit to the Kaliningrad Stadium, Vladimir Putin met with 2018 FIFA World Cup volunteers” – KremlinRu
(Kremlin.ru – July 20, 2018) * * * Question: Mr President, can I ask you a question not related to sports? Yesterday the State Duma adopted amendments to pension legislation in the first reading. Of course, you monitor the Government’s proposals. It is very important for us to know your opinion on this issue. Remark: Galina, I do not think […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “What’s Russia’s average pension? How much money will the government save by raising the retirement age? The surprising numbers behind Russian pension reform” – Meduza
“… $209 is Russia’s average monthly pension, according to the Pension Fund’s January 2018 records … 31.4% of Russians are pensioners. That’s 46 million people ….”
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “Pension reform” – BMB Russia/Aaron Schwartzbaum
“… Russian authorities have been dithering on the pension system literally for year. … [R]egardless of the character of a loss of benefits, pension reform is exactly that: a loss of benefits. … [T[here is another center-periphery dynamic at play …. The average life expectancy has … increased on average … predominantly [for] … middle-class or wealthy urban dwellers. The […]
» Read morePension Fight Highlights Russia’s Fundamental Problem – Its Government, Gontmakher Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 10, 2018) The fight over Moscow’s proposal to raise the pension age highlights the fact that Russia’s “main problem is a state [which] doesn’t fulfill its functions of serving” the people. Instead, it acts like an enormous corporation that collects rents and doesn’t distribute them in an effective way, economist Yevgeny […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Pension age should be increased in smooth, differentiated fashion – Moskalkova” – Interfax
MOSCOW. July 11 (Interfax) – The pension age in Russia should not be increased for everyone simultaneously, but for every category of pensioners separately, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said. “It seems to me it would be premature to approach all categories of citizens directly in this way, at least bearing in mind the monitoring we have conducted. We […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Union-Led Protests Against Pension Reform Approved in 30 Cities” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 26, 2018) Authorities have approved union-led protests against the Russian government’s proposed retirement age hike in 30 cities, including one to be held in a World Cup host city, a major labor union said. The Russian government’s announcement on the eve of the World Cup that it would raise the retirement age has been […]
» Read moreWorld Cup May Have Helped Russia But It hasn’t Boosted Putin
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 24, 2018) Many commentators in both Russia and the West have suggested that the World Cup has helped Russia to overcome much of the opprobrium it has suffered as a result of its invasion of Ukraine, its meddling in elections in Western countries and in general its disruptive behavior. And it […]
» Read moreRussians Getting Older, Reducing Pressure for and Likelihood of Change, Pryanikov Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 11, 2018) The average age of Russians today is much higher than in the past and will continue to rise in the coming decades, Pavel Pryanikov says; and as a result, the usual source of pressure for change, from members of younger generations, is going to fall, reducing still further the […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Authorities begin process of raising retirement age” – Bear Market Brief E-Mail Newsletter
“… the [Russian] government may submit a draft bill to the Duma to raise the retirement age. … suggest[ing] the strictest variant: 65 years for men, 63 years for women. … likely follow[ing] MinFin’s proposal of increasing the retirement age by one year annually. … Several key decisions … What to do with those who qualify for early retirement … […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “The Kremlin has big plans for the next five years, and it might need to raise Russia’s retirement age to pay for everything” – Meduza
“… a leaked copy of … Medvedev’s next five-year budget plan … [anticipates] 25 trillion rubles ($403.8 billion) on 13 ‘national projects.’ … repeat[ing] many of the priorities of Medvedev’s … presidency and … Putin[] … executive orders. [kommersant.ru/doc/3628758] … new roads … demography … infrastructure … cancer and ‘the digital economy’ … broadband Internet connections [for] public sector facilities. […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “The Russian pension system’s 2018 deficit will be twice as big as predicted” – Meduza
“Russia’s Labor Ministry has amended the Pension Fund’s 2018 budget to reflect a deficit that’s more than twice as high as predicted, rising from 106.6 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) to 256.8 billion rubles ($4.1 billion). The Pension Fund is expected to earn just 66.7 billion rubles ($1.1 billion), while spending 83.5 billion rubles ($1.3 billion). Spokespeople for the Pension Fund […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “What about Pensions? An underlying issue at next year’s presidential elections is how to bring certainty and stability to Russia’s cash-strapped pension system. So far, the authorities have tiptoed around the matter.” – Intersection/ Artem Filatov
“… Putin does not plan to retire any time soon. Yet many of his potential voters are worried about their own retirement prospects. Will their pensions be sizeable and reliable? At what age can Russians count on receiving them? During a televised call-in show held in mid-June, the president left this issue hanging. … By not giving any direct answers, the […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “Russia to become a net borrower for first time in a decade” – bne Intellinews
“… 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 moreRussia Ranked Among Worst Countries to Be a Pensioner
(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 moreMoscow Counting on Russians Passively Accepting Raising Pension Age beyond Male Life Expectancy
(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 moreFinance Ministry’s Nesterenko: retirement age increase ‘inevitable’
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 moreReinventing the Babushka Concept
(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 […]
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