The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection proposed to merge the PFR and the FSS into a single Russian Pension and Social Insurance Fund, or the Social Fund of Russia, the press service of the ministry said. The funds are planned to merge from January 1, 2023.
The ministry said that a single digital platform for administering payments, a single tariff, a single window for applying for support measures on the public services portal and a single contact center for advising Russians on support measures will be introduced.
“The Social Fund will act as an insurer for compulsory pension insurance, insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity, insurance in connection with industrial accidents and occupational diseases. At the same time, the draft laws provide for a ban on cross-financing of various types of insurance,” the Ministry of Labor noted. The offices of the PFR and the FSS, as well as employees of extra-budgetary funds, will remain.
The ministry emphasized that for the first time the Supervisory Board will participate in the management of the off-budget fund. It will include seven people: representatives of trade unions, employers, the State Duma, the Federation Council, the government, the coordinator of the Russian tripartite commission for the regulation of social and labor relations and the chairman of the joint fund.
The status of the fund will be enshrined in the Budget and Civil Codes (now it is done only in the Budget Code). Its founder will be the government, and the owner of the property will be the Russian Federation. The state will be responsible for the fund’s public obligations.
The merger of the PFR and the FSS by 2023 was discussed by the members of the RTK in December last year. Then it was reported that a working group would be created within the framework of the commission for this. In 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova announced that the issue of merging the PFR, the FSS and the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund (FOMS) was being considered, but this idea was subsequently abandoned. The MHIF stated that this could lead to a violation of the integrity of the health care system, since social funds have different principles of organization, functioning and financial support.