Raising Retirement Age: What Do They Hide From Belarusians?

The leader of the REP union harshly answered the authorities.

The retirement age for Belarusians will be raised again since January 1, 2020.

In accordance with the so-called “reform” authored by Lukashenka, the retirement age is increased by 6 months every year. Since January 1, 2020, the retirement age for men will be 62 years, for women - 57 years. By 2023, it will reach 63 and 58 years, respectively.

Simultaneously with the retirement age, the minimum length of service required to receive a pension increases, as a result of which more and more Belarusians fall into the “pension trap”.

What impact will another increase of the age of taking a well-deserved rest have on the lives of our citizens? Leader of the independent REP trade union Henadz Fiadynich answers the questions of the Charter97.org news website.

- The REP trade union in its “Platform”, containing 32 popular demands to the authorities, demanded a moratorium on raising the retirement age at the level of 2019 (56 years old women and 61 years old men). How do you comment on yet another increase of the retirement age in Belarus?

- So far, these have remained only the demands of the REP union. But I hope that soon they will become popular. This is due to the fact that pension reform has long had to be carried out. But not this way, when raising the retirement age is introduced by a decree retroactively - and people fall into the pension trap. And there are not hundreds, but thousands of such people, all due to the vile non-professionalism of the authorities.

In this case, the state sees the problem only in that there is not enough money to adequately supplement the Social Protection Fund, from which pensions are paid. But how can it be replenished if hundreds of thousands of people traveled outside Belarus in search of work? So maybe, instead of thoughtlessly raising the retirement age, you need to think about how to return these people, pay them decent wages?

Now the question of the already mentioned pension trap is very acute. In our demands, we informed the authorities: the people who, for example, looked after sick relatives for decades, were left with nothing. And this is hard labor. The government promised them that all of this would go into the length of service. Because the concept of “length of service” was the same as “length of insurance”.

Now the authorities, without warning anyone, have introduced insurance experience - and many categories of people who have worked all their lives have remained without pensions.

Excuse me, what about the military? None of them paid a ruble into the Social Protection Fund. The same with the police. But they do receive pensions, and not small ones. Why do they divide citizens into grades?

Take funds from the budget - and pay to those people whom you deprived of pensions by your decree, introduced retroactively. At the very least, people should have been warned in advance which activities will not be included in the length of service. In general, it was necessary to provide for this money in the state budget - but by no retrospective to introduce such decrees, not just unpopular, but taking away hard-earned money from the people. These decrees are the most vivid demonstration of how much the authorities disrespect our people.

With regard to raising the retirement age. I will say this: the has been too much strange information about the “life expectancy.” Let's face it! How long does an average Belarusian live after retirement today? Two years, three, one and a half? Our people understand everything perfectly. And the authorities act on the principle: no person - no problem.

If a funded pension system had been introduced 10 or 15 years ago, the funds accumulated for life, in which case, would be transferred to close relatives or by will. But now it all disappears, because men on average do not live long after retirement, and after raising the retirement age, many will not be able to reach pension at all.

In addition, everyone understands that it is not possible to live normally on today’s pension of 370-400 rubles. They understand - and continue this disgrace. Why do you immediately throw people after retirement to a completely different diet? Why can our pensioners not afford normal medicines?

You force a pensioner to move from a two-room apartment to a one-room one. Moreover: then you them evict from there for non-payment of housing bills, and put in some shelters for the homeless. Is this a “socially oriented” state economy?

If today you do not have the means to pay normal pensions, then review the size of pensions for all officials, as well as for the police and military. For what merits to the Fatherland, to the citizens of Belarus, do these “servants of the people” receive such big pensions today? Meanwhile, the population receives pensions on which it is impossible to live.

That's what you need to think about today: where to get pension funds for the people. And you can take it for sure. It’s just that today we have enormous opacity both in the budget and in various funds of all kinds, including the “presidential” one. But that’s all the people’s money.

This pushes people away and causes a deep distrust to the existing regime. Today, this is heard in every street, in every market and in public transport. You have to think about it, because sooner or later a new leadership will come - and you will have to answer.

- By the way, in their “pension policy” the authorities constantly refer to Europe …

- Yes, Europe is increasing the retirement age. But the standard of living, its duration is completely different from the one in Belarus. Let's achieve that standard of living - and then it will be no problem. Then the question of raising the retirement age will be much more painless.

But this is not done. Everything is done according to the principle: “I said so, that means it should be so.”

You know, this does not work already - and will not work. Because the people are already fed up with the fact that decisions on the retirement age are made without any knowledge, without consulting with the society. That the authorities do not look at the situation in which today's pensioners live, and moreover, they persecute these pensioners if they sell something in the street, impose fines on them.

If the government cannot give pensions, it must not interfere if people want to earn money by themselves. In general, having retired, people should rest. Make a pension of at least 700 rubles today - and you will see that not a single pensioner, with rare exceptions, will go to work.They have already worked for their life. But it turns out now that they put the whole life in order to receive unfortunate 300-400 rubles. So what did we build in these 25 years?

- Along with raising the retirement age, the minimum length of service required to receive a pension also increases. The “Platform” of the REP union requires the authorities to reduce it from 20 to 10 years. Why is it important?

- This is important, firstly, because this insurance experience was first 5 years, then 10, then 20. At the same time, what used to be called “length of service” was retroactively replaced by this “length of insurance”, unexpectedly excluding from it many years of our citizens’ work. If this “reform” is so important to you, then, please, return to the insurance period those years during which women, for example, gave birth and looked after their children. Otherwise, you stole 6 years from those who raised two children.

Return 5 years of full-time study, return the military service. You really stole it all. Return it to the people - and most of them will have enough experience to receive a pension.

And now, if there’s not enough experience - go get a social pension of 150 rubles. What's this? The people are just made homeless? I constantly say that social policies, which concern a significant part or the majority of society, cannot be made in the offices. This is criminal. You need to know how people live before making any decisions.

Otherwise, there will be indignation, and sooner or later the society will cross this rubicon. This unprofessionalism, this unjust and disregard for the people - sooner or later it will explode. And the people will express their distrust to this government.

- How will the life of ordinary Belarusians change after another increase of the retirement age in 2020?

- Numbers are a stubborn thing, and the prices for food and services are constantly growing.

Starting from the New Year, expenses for transport and utilities will increase,and they will add 5 dollars for heating water. The inflation didn’t go anywhere, but there is practically no allowance for pensioners.

Therefore, I predict that the situation for the people will only worsen with raising the retirement age. Without an efficient economy, the welfare of most citizens, both working and retired, will only fall. This is an axiom, it is not even a theorem.

The people will feel this dynamic in 2020 on themselves. They no longer even believe in all these promises made in the pre-election years: they will “raise” something there. Empty promises, a joy for fools. The people do not believe them.

Because Belarusians want to live with dignity today - and every day. And do not live with some sort of fairy tales about the day after tomorrow and “please tighten your belts”. And people deserve to no longer listen to these fairy tales.

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