“There are no such discussions”
The head of the Ministry of Labor Anton Kotyakov commented on the idea of the deputies of the lower house of the Russian parliament to introduce New Year payments to pensioners, RIA Novosti writes.
“To date, there are no such discussions, I did not have such information,” said the Minister of Labor and Social Protection. Kotyakov responded accordingly to the proposal of the Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, which was reflected in the draft law of December 16.
The parliamentarians voiced the idea of establishing a payment in the amount of a pension received by citizens of the Russian Federation. One of the authors of the document, head of the Just Russia – For the Truth faction, Sergei Mironov, said that the payment before the New Year will help pensioners to celebrate the holiday with dignity and not borrow money to buy gifts. The party leader stressed that the MPs will vote for the initiative if it is supported by the Cabinet.
In December, communist deputy Oleg Smolin made a statement that on average about 90,000 rubles were not paid to pensioners in Russia, since the indexation takes place without taking into account the inflation rate. As an example, he cited 2015, when inflation was about 13%, but pension payments were indexed by only 4%.
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