Retirement age not to be raised in Russia

Moscow, Feb 7 (Itar-Tass) Russia will not raise the retirement age and people will be encouraged to work longer, an official said. "The retirement age will not change, but economic mechanisms will be created to encourage a person to keep working," Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said yesterday. "Around 13 million people keep working, women aged 55-57 feel 'young' and work to make money, but keeping them incentivised is an economic issue," Olga Golodets said. Currently men in Russia retire at the age of 60 and women at 55. Russia's Minister of Labour and Social Security Maxim Topilin had earlier said that the idea of raising the retirement age in the country would lead nowhere and would fail to balance the Pension Fund's budget. "The demographic situation is such that there is no prospect or need to raise the retirement age," he said. "There is a popular belief that if the retirement age is raised, the Pension Fund deficit will decrease. But it will not," the minister said. "If you raise the retirement age, you will pay (pensions) for a shorter period of time, but the amount of obligations under the pension formula will not become smaller," he said. Raising the retirement age in Russia would be unacceptable and unnecessary, Vladimir Putin had earlier said before his inauguration. "This is ruled out. If we did this, the retirement age in the country would be 65 years already now for both men and women. We understand that this is unacceptable and unnecessary for Russia now," Putin said. Putin said pensioners who wish to work after retirement should be allowed to do so. (Itar-Tass) IRH 02071505 NNNN