Ministry of Labour: Self-Employed Not Entitled To Get Regular Pension

The authorities want to preserve the "pension trap" for many Belarusians.

The requirements for the minimum insurance period can be changed for some categories of citizens in Belarus. Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security Valery Kavalkou announced that in the "house of representatives" at the round table on the state and perspectives of the pension system on January 27, tut.by reports.

That entails not the individual consideration of specific cases, but the consolidation of the regulations in the legislation, Valery Kavalkou said.

– We might think about the reduction of insurance employment period, but only for those persons, who have long-term credit periods. We must understand that the persons, who did not work or worked for themselves, should not receive a pension in the same amount as those, who worked all his life, – Valery Kavalkou noted.

We remind that service in the Army, being on maternity leave, getting education, etc. are included in the credit periods.

Now Belarusians, who have not worked out the insurance period, are getting into the "pension trap": they cannot qualify for a retirement pension, only for a social one.

Until 2014, the insurance period, which was taken into account, when assigning retirement pension, was 5 years. And from January 1, 2014, it increased up to 10 years, a year later – up to 15 years. In 2015, it was already 15 years and 6 months. At the beginning of this year, the insurance period rose by another six months, now it is 16 years. Every year it will increase by 6 months – up to 20 years.