Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 25 March (BelTA) – It is not enough just to solve the retirement age issue to improve the pension system, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the session to discuss this matter on 25 March, BelTA informs.

“It is an important issue. It is in the spotlight today, but it is only a part of the pension system. Apart from raising the retirement age, we need to at least improve the entire pension system, i.e. to create the pension fund and finally raise pension benefits,” the head of state said.

He stressed that the resolution of this issue is long overdue. “If there is a problem, we must solve it relying on the foundation which has been created so far. We should not be afraid of reforms. There should be no frontal attacks on certain processes. I want to reiterate that our people will not understand it,” the President noted.

“When pending issues accumulate and new acute problems emerge, they need to be solved in a calm manner. It is essential to talk to people, convince our society that it is to be done,” the head of state said. Alexander Lukashenko remarked that this is how the issue of utility rates was solved: the authorities met the society half way. “There were no shocks. The point is that we increased prices (now households cover 40% of utility costs), but we also decided that we must make effort too and put some pressure on providers of utility services. If they do their best to reduce the prime cost of their services, by the end of the year we will ensure that half of utility costs are covered by households. Further steps will depend on the situation,” the President stressed.

“As for the pension system, we need to decide whether we will build the pay-as-you-go system or the system of defined contributions. People approved of our proposal to keep the pay-as-you-go system which exists in the country today and to build the system of defined contributions on a voluntary basis,” Alexander Lukashenko noted.

“As a result, if the situation is appropriate we will introduce the defined-contributions system similar to those used in Western countries. Or we will reject it if it does not suit us and retain the pay-as-you-go system which exists in Belarus today. At the same time, we are monitoring this issue and are developing the new system in our country,” the President said.