PRESS: Russian ministry offers employer-sponsored pensions from ‘19

MOSCOW, Mar 1 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Finance Ministry is preparing proposals to introduce an obligatory employer-sponsored pension program from 2019, newspaper Izvestiya reported on Tuesday, citing a ministry’s draft document.

Employees will have to participate in pension co-payment with employers. The amount of the contributions will grow gradually: from 1% of salary to be paid by both an employee and an employer in 2019 to 3% in 2025, the newspaper reported.

Employers will bear the responsibility for monthly transactions to private pension funds, each employee will join the system by signing an agreement when starting a job.

The ministry also plans to offer to tie the retirement age to the amount of contributions. In order to retire, a person must reach a minimum threshold, while companies with people who must retire earlier due to hazardous work environment must double or even quadruple the contributions. The government can subsidize these additional payments.

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