Kremlin to forcibly seize 3 trillion rubles of Russians' pension savings - intelligence

Moscow plans to forcibly transfer Russians' pension savings into a new state scheme. This involves about 3 trillion rubles. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, according to UNN.

Details

The Kremlin plans to forcibly transfer Russians' pension savings into a new state scheme - a long-term savings program. At stake are about 3 trillion rubles in the accounts of 37 million Russians who have not yet chosen a private pension fund to manage their funds.

It is noted that the idea is explained pragmatically: the money will go to non-state pension funds for investments in infrastructure and "state projects," and the economy will receive "long money."

The main beneficiary could be the NPF "Blagosostoyanie" (Welfare), whose shareholders include Russian Railways, Gazprombank, and VEB.RF. That is, those structures that are under direct state control.

The intelligence service reminded that in 2014 - immediately after the occupation of Crimea and the imposition of sanctions - the government "froze" the accumulative part of pensions. At that time, 6% of the 22% of pension contributions that were supposed to go to citizens' personal accounts were simply redirected to payments to current pensioners, plugging a hole in the pension fund. The freeze was declared temporary, but it continues to this day.

The long-term savings program was launched in 2024 as a supposedly voluntary alternative to attract public funds to the stock market, which was devastated by the departure of foreign investors after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The idea failed: in two years of operation, the program collected only 717 billion rubles from 10 million participants. Putin personally urged the government to "more actively stimulate" joining the LDS, but voluntary enrollment did not yield the desired result. Now, as they say, an option that no longer smells of voluntariness is on the table. The specific mechanism of transfer has not yet been determined, but the very logic of the initiative is eloquent: when the state needs "long money" to finance projects in conditions of sanctions and budgetary pressure from the war, it traditionally finds it in the pockets of future pensioners.

Recall

In Russia, against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with the West and increasing isolation, interest in Asian countries has grown. Russian students are massively choosing Asian universities instead of European ones due to sanctions. Chinese and Korean languages have become the most popular among Russian youth.