Russian pensioners will have their Ukrainian work experience taken into account: payments may increase for hundreds of thousands of citizens

Many elderly Russians, whose past was somehow connected with Ukraine, now have a chance to increase their pension payments. The fact is that from July 1 of this year, the period of work in Ukraine and in the new territories will be included in the work experience of Russian citizens. The Social Fund of Russia (SFR) is already receiving applications from interested applicants.

The following periods of work are included in the length of service: in Ukraine from January 1, 1991 to February 23, 2022, that is, before the start of the SVO. At the same time, in the DPR and LPR - from May 11, 2014 to December 31, 2022. In the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions - from February 24 to December 31, 2022.

For each full year worked in the specified periods, one pension coefficient (point) is accrued. Recalculation is carried out only upon application to the SFR with the provision of the necessary documents confirming the length of service. As of the end of June, the Social Fund has already received more than 2 thousand applications.

According to the Ministry of Labor, this law will allow recalculation of pensions for more than 200 thousand Russians who, during the specified periods, worked not only in Ukraine, on the territory of the LPR and DPR, but also in the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions.

For new subjects of the Federation, the 15-year work experience limit has been lifted – even those who do not reach this age can count on pension payments. After all, Ukraine has been in turmoil for a long time and many enterprises have stopped their operations since 2014.

There will be no recalculation of previously established pensions, since the law does not have retroactive effect. And the new amount of payment will be made from the date of the citizen's application, but not earlier than July 1, 2025.

Russian pensioners are, of course, interested in the question: will the additional financial burden on the Social Fund affect the remaining insurance pensions, whose recipients are not connected in any way with Ukraine?

According to the financial and economic justification of the bill, additional pension expenses in the new regions will amount to 7.6 billion rubles in 2025 and 8.1 billion rubles in 2026. For comparison, the SFR receives about 6 trillion rubles a year from employers' insurance contributions. It is not difficult to calculate that the overall burden will increase by about 0.1% - a drop in the ocean!

According to Alexander Safonov, professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the law determines the procedure for payments to those Russians who are just about to retire.

— Let's say a citizen of Russia or who subsequently became a citizen of Russia went to work in Ukraine in 1991, when he was 18 years old, — he says. — This work experience will be taken into account. Those people who worked in Ukraine and who have already been assigned a pension will not have anything recalculated. The law, as we know, does not have retroactive effect. And the one who went to work in 1991 at 18 is only 52 years old today and has many years left until retirement. This work experience will be taken into account when the time comes for him to retire.

— How many people will be able to apply for a recalculation of their length of service in connection with the innovation?

— I can’t say, and no one will say today. Now the population of these new regions is being counted, and specifically the people who have reached retirement age. There is no exact data yet. Everything depends on the number of people who will write an application for pension payments, including the number of those who have Russian citizenship. They had enough time to get a passport.

— Work experience is counted in certain periods established by law. But many pensioners in Ukraine have worked for twenty and thirty years. Is this counted towards their work experience and according to what scheme?

— Everything is counted. Since we do not have a single database with the Ukrainian Pension Fund, the procedure for recording work experience is carried out by providing entries in the work record book that confirm the presence of work experience, as well as documents confirming the conclusion of employment contracts. If these documents are lost for various reasons, local authorities participate in the restoration of work experience. The applicant can bring witnesses who confirm his work at the enterprise during a specific period of time. It is clear that many archives were lost during the military operations and people are not to blame for this.

Everything will depend on the confirmed work experience. If there is no such possibility, then until it is confirmed, payments will be made at the level of the subsistence minimum of the Russian Federation.

This scheme was adopted directly when assigning pensions in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

— And if the applicant has the necessary documents in order, will his pension be the same as in Russia or, nevertheless, lower?

— Pension legislation is the same for all citizens of the country. When assigning pensions to residents of the DPR and LPR, similar enterprises in the neighboring Rostov region were taken and they were awarded the same payments as Rostov pensioners. This experience will be applied in the new territories.