UPDATE2: Putin to announce position on retirement age hike on Wed

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OMSK, Aug 28 (PRIME) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he will articulate his position on pension changes in detail and make a statement already on Wednesday.

“In the near future, maybe already tomorrow, I will articulate my attitude (to pension changes) and will make a relevant statement,” Putin said.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin will make his announcement in a televised address on Wednesday. The president will make the statement because the issue is important, not because his rating is falling, he added.

“No, this is connected with importance of the issue,” Peskov said, adding that Putin said on numerous occasions that he was not worried about ratings.

The State Duma, the Russian parliament’s lower house, in late July approved in the first out of the three required readings a bill that gradually raises the retirement age to 65 years for men and 63 years for women from 60 years and 55 years, respectively. The bill, to take force from January 1, 2019, encompasses a transition period from 2019 till 2034 with an annual increase of the retirement age by one year.

Sharp discussions in the society around the proposed changes in the pension legislation were expected, as the issue is very sensitive, Putin said.

“As you know, the Russian government put forward an initiative to make a reform in the pension system, submitted a relevant bill to the State Duma… Of course, all this evoked an expected response, quite sharp discussions in the society,” he said.

“For every person, especially of the older generation, the issue of a retirement age hike, and this is envisaged in the reform proposed by the government, is very important and sensitive and hardly anyone can like it. Actually, this has always been the case during transformations of this kind.”

The government should not act mechanically and formally while making decisions on pension changes, Putin also said.

“Please do not forget that all our decisions will concern hundreds of millions of people and should be fair, take into account interests of citizens, we cannot act mechanically, formally, and only carefully,” he said.

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