Page 43 - RusRPTOct21

first proposed the matter a couple of days before a meeting with representatives of the Duma ruling party (United Russia).
The president also issued lump sums of 15,000 rubles toe paid in september to employees of certain federal authorities, such as the interior ministry and customs, prosecutors, and soldiers and trainers recruited to the defense forces. The decisions came close to the Duma election, which will be held on 19 September. In connection with the previous Duma election in September 2016, the announcement of the lump sum to retirees also came a couple of weeks before the election. At that time, the money was paid at the turn of the year. About 43mn pensioners now receive the lump sum, which is about 40% of those entitled to vote.
The amount of money needed for lump sums for pensioners is just over 0.4% of annual GDP and closer to 1% of household consumption. Temporarily, the full amount or almost the entire amount supports private consumption at some rate. The average savings rate of pensioners is lower than that of the general population, which has also been relatively low in recent years for bank deposits and cash (5-7%). Through consumption, the amount supports domestic production and, to some extent, imports. Their real volume will rise temporarily to the extent that the use of lump sums does not affect inflation.
Accelerated increases in pensions have occurred in the 21st century, e.g. in the context of the 2009 elections and recession. In the 2010s, the line of increase haseen narrower overall and focused entirely on the lump sum in connection with the 2016 Duma election. According to surveys, the popularity of those in power at the time was otherwise high from the illegal incorporation of Crimea in the early months of 2014 until June, after the inauguration of the President in May 2018, when then Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced a gradual increase in the general retirement age and VAT.
The social position of pensioners haseen the subject of prominent attention by the state leadership in connection with pension increases since the mid-2000s. The ratio of the average pension to the national average wage decreased to 23% in 2007, as did the ratio of the average pension to the average wage of employees financed from publicudgets (the ratio was 26% in 2007). The low ratios rose significantly to 36% and 39% in 2010, respectively, thanks to pension increases,ut have fallen since then, and in recent years both ratios have been around 30%.
43 RUSSIA Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com