Page 16 - RUSRptSept18

decision." The President warned that "relatively soon" the number of workers will equal the number of retirees, which would burst either the pension system of the budget and fiscal buffers supporting it. Previously one pensioner was supported by the social contributions of two workers.
Polls showed that discontent over the pension reform has snowballed , as the readiness of Russians for mass protests over economic policies has risen from a record low to top 40% for the first time since 2009. The popularity of Putin, and to a larger extent, the ruling United Russia party, has also taken a hit.
Previous reports already indicated that Kremlin is looking for ways to scale back the reform , while also making Putin the messenger of good news. "It is obvious that a giveaway from the president is due," one commentator said.
The timing of the reform is also awkward as the pro-Putin United Russia party will face difficulties in the upcoming regional elections in September due to the reform.
The giveaways announced by the president concern mostly working women, with the retirement age for women to be hiked to 60 years instead of 63, while mothers with more than three children will have the right to retire one year earlier for every additional child. Other reports say that the military has also been exempted and some classes of soldiers have a retirement entitlement from 35 years old.
"Our country has a special, careful attitude towards women," the President said, adding that "we understand that they not only have work at their main place of employment, but also usually have the carry the household, care for the family, raise children, and worry about grandchildren. The retirement age for women should not increase more than for men," he noted.
For people about to retire in the next two years, a six-month cutback from the increased retirement age will be available. The unemployment benefits for people within 5 years away from retirement will be more than doubled. The employers will face administrative and even criminal charges in case of firing, or refusing to hire, workers in pre-retirement age, Putin promised.
The sources of Vedomosti daily previously claimed that Putin's address will seal the discussions of the pension reform and will kick off the preparations of the 2019-2021 federal budget.
2.8 Oligarchs sign up to RUB300bn of special investments
The government is working out a new program to grant benefits to businessmen willing to invest more than RUB1bn ($14.7mn) of private funds into Russian investment projects. Previously known as special investment contracts 2.0 (SPIK 2.0), the program, developed in tandem between business, the Ministry of Finance, and Kremlin aide Andrei Belousov, will now be called the “protection and encouragement of investments” in Russia.
Belousov's threat seems to have worked. His initiative will likely lead to greater investment using threats, but the businesses affected did well to restart talks about contracts designed to protect the investment climate for major projects. Instead of getting gouged for money to fund the May Decrees, they're ostensibly putting money into growth-generating projects with some state protections on investment under this plan. Should it be accepted, policymakers and businesses will jockey for chances to earn off of localization and import substitution programs for technology.
16 RUSSIA Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com