More than a third of the population of the Crimean peninsula are elderly citizens, so indexation of pensions in Crimea, recalculation of the order and amount of cash payments and other issues related to this topic are perceived quite sharply by the population. The FIU timely informs residents of all changes, however, this news is surrounded by a mass of rumors and speculation.
Pensions in Crimea after reunification with Russia
By the end of March 2014, Crimean residents for the first time began to receive financial security in rubles. Pensions for Crimeans (as they will be counted, it was determined by the government of the Russian Federation, of which the Republic of Crimea and the city of federal significance Sevastopol became a part) were converted from hryvnias to rubles at an increased rate. In addition, from April to July inclusive, pensions doubled.
In numerical terms, the average monthly payment in the spring of 2014 was only five thousand six hundred rubles. After the final increase, the average payments to pensioners amounted to eleven thousand two hundred rubles. In Sevastopol, the average pensions for Crimeans (as they will be counted in the future, it was already clear) amounted to twelve thousand four hundred rubles.
Then the residents of Crimea got the opportunity to become participants in the Mandatory Pension Insurance System and get an individual savings account, which indicates the active integration of the republic into the legislative space of the Russian Federation.
Pension benefits in 2015
Already in 2015, pensions for Crimeans became more delineated. How will they be recounted under the new legislation? From the moment the Republic of Crimea entered the legislative space of the Russian Federation, pensions began to accrue according to general rules. Then, many believed that cash payments would decrease significantly, but in fact there was no reason for concern.
The amount of payments that retirees monthly received at the end of 2014 was called the “saved pension”. If during recounting, according to Russian law, cash payments became less, the “saved amount” was continued to be paid to the pensioner. It is this amount that a person will receive until the next time indexation, the amount of payments is equal or exceeds the saved amount. In the future, the pension will be calculated in the generally established manner.
Pension benefits “according to the Russian model”
In the Russian Federation, pensions are accrued differently than in Ukraine. In connection with this fact, a lot of incompletely clarified issues arise regarding the pension for Crimeans. How will they be recounted, and what changes await the inhabitants of the peninsula?
In the Russian Federation, the state pays three types of cash security for old age and other reasons for the termination of work:
- state pensions;
- insurance;
- cumulative.
In addition, there is a voluntary pension, the formation of which the citizen is engaged in independently or with the involvement of non-governmental organizations.
The insurance pension compensates the pensioner for the salary that he received before completion of his labor activity. Cumulative payment consists of cash that has been accumulated from mandatory (made mandatory by employers) and voluntary (made by the citizen himself before retirement) contributions.
The state security pension is granted only to certain categories of citizens. Such payments compensate for the salary received by the pensioner before completion of labor activity, as well as damage to health. State pensions are received by former civil servants (with at least fifteen years of service), astronauts, military personnel and flight test personnel (with at least twenty-five years of service for male citizens and twenty for women).
All citizens living on the peninsula can receive a state pension (if there are reasons for receiving this kind of payment), insurance (accrued by default, since Crimeans did not have the opportunity to form an individual funded pension before reuniting with Russia) and mixed. Mixed pension (part consists of insurance, part is accumulated by a citizen on a voluntary basis upon completion of labor activity) have the opportunity to apply for pensioners born in 1967 and earlier.
In addition to the pension itself, some categories of citizens may receive additional security:
- monthly financial payment;
- a set of social services, which is included in the monthly additional payment;
- additional material support, which is calculated monthly.
Russian pension calculation formula
But how will the Crimeans be counted? Since the beginning of 2015, insurance payments to Crimean pensioners are calculated according to the following formula:
SP = IPC x SIPK + FV, where:
- JV - insurance pension.
- IPC - the amount of pension points (points are awarded for each year of work, taking into account wages and other factors: military service, the need to care for older people, the length of parental leave, and so on).
- SIPK - the cost of one point (set at the state level, periodically indexed).
- ФВ - a fixed (guaranteed) payment to a citizen (established by the government).
