In 2009, pensions in Russia will be indexed four times, not three, as it was initially planned, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. The number of pension indexations will depend on the inflation level this year: If it proves higher than the planned target, pensions will be increased in line with a rise in prices. The current law on the budget projects the price rise of 6%-7.5%, whereas the Economic Development Ministry's latest inflation forecast is 13%. In January, the prices rose by 2.4%, and the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) forecasts a 1.6% rise in February.
Pensions in Russia consist of three parts now: the basic part of the pension (which is guaranteed by the state, with its size fixed by law), the insurance part (the differentiated part of the pension which depends on a person's employment record), and the accumulated part (only for the people born in 1967 and later).
The first indexation of pensions took place yesterday. From March 1, the basic part of the pension has been increased by 8.7%, to 1,950 roubles. The next indexation is expected on April 1: The insurance part of the pension will be raised by 17.5% (against the initially planned 15.2%). The Government plans the last indexation this year for December 1, when the basic part of the pension is to be increased by another 26.5%, to 2,466 roubles.
If the prices rise faster than the Government expects, the basic part of the pension will be raised again on August 1, Mr Putin promised. The Prime Minister did not specify the percent increase but said that the total indexation may reach 30%. This will make it possible to raise social pensions (paid to all people of retirement age irrespective of their employment record) from December 1 to the pensioners' subsistence minimum. Under the Government's latest resolution, it amounts to 3,600 roubles. According to forecasts by the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the average pension should reach 6,100 roubles by the end of the year.
By the end of 2008, the average pension amounted to 4,500 roubles. Mr Putin also said that the Government had no intention of curtailing the programme of state co-financing of the accumulated part of the pension financed from the National Welfare Fund, which has been consistently shrinking recently. Note that from January 1, 2009 an employee may transfer to its pension account no less than 2,000 roubles a year and receive twice this amount from the state (but no more than 12,000 roubles a year). For people who have reached the pension age but continue working, the state's contribution to the accumulated part of the pension will exceed their personal contributions fourfold (however, it should not be more than 48,000 roubles). This programme will apply till 2019. "We will preserve this scheme," Prime Minister Putin promised. According to the Pension Fund's data, the participants in the programme of state co-financing of pensions (1.1 million people in all) transferred over 101.7 million roubles to the accumulated part of their pensions over the first two months of this year.
Ksenia Batanova
