Russian citizens will be able to retire two years before the retirement age according to Federal Law No. 35-FZ On Pension Reform, the Russian Pension Fund informs.
Men will be eligible for early retirement if they have accumulated 42 employment years and women 37 years. However, they will not be able to retire before the former retirement age, which is 55 and 60, respectively. Therefore, to be eligible for early retirement, one must begin working at the age of 18 and have continuous official employment. Even military service, maternity leave or a leave of absence to take care of a senior or a disabled person as well as other periods of absence will not be taken into account.
State Duma member Natalia Poklonskaya earlier proposed amendments that limit the required length of employment to 37 years thus allowing men to retire even before the former retirement age of 55. However, her colleagues did not support the amendments.
“The majority of citizens who will accumulate such a long period of service will not be able to retire according to the current legislation. Men will only be able to retire at 63 and women at 58,” says Nikolai Yepikhin, taxation expert and head of the Uproshchyonka (Simplified taxation system) website. “These days, it is extremely difficult to accumulate so many years because people are not always officially employed and sometimes take breaks, often due to the fact that there are no suitable jobs, especially in the regions.”