On February 1st, pensions in Russia were indexed by 4%, social benefits, monthly payments and child allowances (except for maternity capital) – by 7%. The authorities promise that, despite difficulties in the economy, all social liabilities will be fulfilled. Yesterday, Premier Dmitry Medvedev stated at the session on financial and economic issues: “We are increasing pensions and benefits to disabled people. Non-contributory pensions of unemployed pensioners have been increased by 4%. It is a solution for some of the problems. We will return to this issue after the results of the economy’s work in the first six months of 2016.”
However, experts state that the budget of 2016 has no resources for protection of social benefits, payments, and compensation from inflation. This is the first and the last indexing of pensions and benefits in 2016.
Lyudmila Kostkina, First Deputy Chairwoman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, admits that it is unacceptable to cut social funding, but she adds: “18 million people of working age do not pay into the fund of obligatory medical insurance. The budget pays for them. It is an ineffective waste of budgetary funds in all spheres.”
A year ago, the President announced directives on the further development of the social policy of the country on the basis of the criterion of neediness for the targeted allocation of benefits and other governmental payments at a session of the RF State Council on the socio-economic situation in the regions. He meant spending budgetary funds according to optimal expenditure. It had to be achieved through implementation of the target orientation. The target orientation requires budgetary support only of families or individuals on a low income.
According to Kostkina, “the criterion on neediness is one and a half times the minimum living wage. But every region has the right to set it individually, but not less than one and a half times the minimum living wage... There are no cuts in 2016 on privileged categories. Everything is indexed by 7.8%... No federal benefit recipients will be deprived of benefits, including in the Russian Federation's regions. Regions understand that federal law should be carried out. The only thing that is infringed is that indeed, regarding indexation, we moved indexation in some places, and somewhere we made it 6.5%, and somewhere indexation is 4% this year. And some payments remained the same as in 2015. But this is an anti-crisis measure. It will be a little bit worse for everyone.”
