The seminar addressed some of the issues following the ratification by Russia of the ILO Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) formally registered by the ILO Director-General on 26 February, 2019. Ignat Ignatiev, Director of the Pension Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection (MLSP) in his welcome address stressed Russia’s commitment to continuous assessment and alignment of national policy and practice with the Convention requirements in consultation with social partners.

Discussions focused on the standards for social protection in old-age, global trends in pension system reforms and their relevance for the Russian context. Globally, increasing retirement age, expanding coverage and increasing benefits were most frequent of the top ten measures introduced worldwide. It was stressed that reforms should be guided by standards and core principles enshrined in the Convention No 102. In particular, benefits should be guaranteed by law; they should be predictable and periodically reviewed in line with costs of living and earnings; managed in transparent and participatory manner; the principle of solidarity, non-discrimination and responsiveness to special needs should be propoted.

The Convention No. 102 provides detailed technical instructions for the design of each of the guarantees, including the methodology for calculation of old-age benefits. As Arkadiy Solovioy of the Pension Fund noted, ’this requires improvement of the methodology for replacement rates calculations’. Among other issues requiring attention were availability of data and their alignment with international standards; timely and continuous forecasting of labour market; demographic and economic trends.

Igor Shanin, Secretary of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (FNPR) stressed the need “to continue with a strong social dialogue on legal aspects and standards, such as type, adequacy and predictability of guarantees and expansion of social insurance coverage.”

Representatives of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) noted that there are no universal solutions that could be applied to each and every pension system. Elena Feoktistova, RSPP, supported most of the workers’ organisations views and added that employers stand ready to continue discussing the social insurance contributions.

The participants could examine the ILO Centenary exhibition entitled 100 Years of Social Security with the ILO.

In sum, the seminar co-organised by the ILO Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation with support of the Faculty of Economics and Finance of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation opened the debate on a number of pension-related issues. The participants agreed to continue discussions in this format, as well as through strengthened social dialogue.