Parliament rejects bill on funded pensions
Kyiv • UNN
Parliament failed to pass the law on the funded pension system in the first reading due to insufficient votes, and its future prospects are uncertain given the need for IMF and World Bank approval, as well as demographic uncertainty caused by the war.
The Verkhovna Rada failed to pass the law №9212 on the funded pension system in the first reading due to insufficient number of votes, it was sent back to the initiators of the legislation, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Thursday, UNN reports.
The Parliament failed in the first reading of №9212 on the Law on Accumulative Pension Provision. The total number of votes was 214. Sent to the subject of the initiative - 235
"I don't think that even if passed, there would be a chance for the law in the near future. The IMF has a specific rule that any changes to the pension system must be agreed with the World Bank. And while the situation with demographics is unclear (due to the war), it is very difficult to calculate the macro for such a change. It is impossible to be more precise," Zheleznyak said.
What the draft law provides for
The currently proposed document envisages the establishment of mandatory participation in the funded pension system for all categories of employees until they reach the age of 55 and mandatory payment of pension contributions by employers in favor of such employees.
In particular, the document stipulates that starting from 2025, each working person's personal accounts opened with the state authorized pension fund will receive 2% of the salary fund as additional pension savings every month: 1% - from the unified social tax, 1% - from the state budget. In 2026, the deductions will be 3%, and in 2027 - 4%.
It is also expected that the state will guarantee the safety of pension funds, and when the owner of a pension account passes away, the amount of pension savings can be inherited.
"It is assumed that in the future, when the private sector and the National Securities and Stock Market Commission are ready, insurance companies, non-state pension funds, and asset management companies will join the savings system," said Galyna Tretyakova, chair of the committee.
At the same time, Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko said in an interview that before the war he was a supporter of pension reform and helped to promote it, and now the Ministry of Finance supports it "conceptually." However, in a time of war, its implementation may be too difficult, the minister believes. A similar conclusion was reached by the State Tax Service in its comments to the draft law, stating that the introduction of a funded pension system in the context of ongoing aggression may not yield the expected financial result for citizens.
