01:54, 14 May 2014

Armenian Parliament approves amendments to law on pension system in first reading

Rally against accumulative pension system organised by DEM.AM initiative. Yerevan, April 9, 2014. Photo by Armine Martirosyan for the ‘Caucasian Knot’.

On May 13, Armenian MPs supported the adoption of the draft law on amendments to the Law "On Funded Pensions" proposed by the government. In the first reading, 68 MPs voted to adopt the draft law. 12 MPs voted against the draft law, and 36 other MPs abstained.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that starting from January 1, 2014, the law introducing the accumulative pension system began operating in Armenia. Yerevan met the plans for pension reforms with protests. On April 2, the Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia recognized a mandatory component of the pension system to be unconstitutional and suspended the law on the introduction of the accumulative pension system until September 30. On May 9, the government of Armenia proposed to discuss the amendments to the law at the extraordinary session of the Parliament to be held on May 12.

If the amendments to the Law "On Funded Pensions" are finally approved, employees will be have an opportunity to file statements about their refusal to participate in the accumulative pension system, and employers will be exempted from liability provided for non-calculation and non-transfer of related payments to accumulative funds, the "Radio Liberty" reports.