Russia could abolish state pensions, parliament speaker says

State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that state pensions could be abolished in Russia in the future. did not rule out that in Russia state pensions could be abolished.

"Our pension system has a deficit, there's a big whole in it, and they fill it in from the budget. Whether we are going to have state pensions or not - this is a question too, because the budget has a deficit now too," Volodin said at a meeting with residents of the city of Saratov.

The speaker of the lower house of the parliament urged citizens to think about the raise of monthly pensions, rather than about the raise in the retirement age.

"We in the State Duma have decided - and this ratification was adopted in the first reading - that the pension should be at least 40 percent of the salary of a retiring person who retires," he said noting that the issue has not been fully elaborated yet.

Large-scale changes in the pension legislation were announced in Russia in mid-June. The government initiated the bill on raising the retirement age. President Vladimir Putin urged not to rush with such a radical decisions and stated that he, like most citizens, did not like this reform.

The State Duma will consider the bill again on August 21.

Photo credits: Fotodom.ru