ALMATY, Dec 6 (THE GLOBE)
Nina Nesterkina, hydrogeologist:
I personally trusted more the Soviet pension system. At that time we had serious guarantees that our money would be safe. Everyone knew that when he was old, he would have money to live. In other words, people were confident in the next day. But at present we can�t help thinking of the future with fear and despair. Increasing retirement age is unfair, especially under circumstances of mass unemployment. Often people over 50 cannot find any job at all.
Samat Sapyrbaev, student:
I do not believe in the new pension system. Nobody guarantees that I will receive my pension savings, when I am of pension age. I doubt that any pension fund from which I may deduct money will successfully exist at least for several years. In this situation, aged people can hope only for assistance from their relatives.
Ivan Marchenko, newspaper distributor:
I am not going to deposit a single tyin (one hundredth of a tenge) to our accumulating pension funds. I am sure that some national �wise men� live on people�s savings.
The size of our pensions are not subject to comments, as it is quite impossible to live on them. I wish our top functionaries �existed� on this amount of money.
Askar, businessman:
I may say only one thing: all these pension savings are a sweet pie. And its slices have been either eaten long ago or distributed among high-rank people. For common people, it is naive and foolish to count on something: they will not receive even small leavings from the lords� table.
Tursun Karimova, pensioner:
- The state left us, pensioners, who had honestly worked for the motherland for decades. Recently a lot was said about defects of the past. However, few young people understand that time common people had real rights guaranteed by the state. I don�t care for myself, but I do care for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. What will happen to them?
Aidar AKHMETOV
ASTANA, Dec 2
(THE GLOBE)
�The normative base of pension reform is being improved. We will not refuse the accumulating pension system,� Kazakhstani Minister of Labor and Social Protection Nicolai Rodostovets announced on Thursday, December 2 in Astana.
The announcement was made at a seminar on informational support of the pension system, titled �Media and the accumulating pension system in Kazakhstan.� The seminar was sponsored by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, the Asian Bank of Development, and the corporation Pragma and the Kazakhstani Press Club.
On January 1st, 1998 the Law �On pension provision in the Republic of Kazakhstan� was put into effect. This law initiated the new accumulating pension system. Data from sociological research indicates that most Kazakhstanis have no accurate idea of the main provisions of the accumulating system. According to the organizers of the seminar, one of the reasons for that is inadequate illumination of the issue by media.
Paul Piper, the head of the pension reform project IMCC, funded by USAID, said that Chile was the first country that had introduced the obligatory accumulating pension system in 1981. At present more than 20 countries (except the USA and Eastern Europe) have some version of an accumulating system. Piper mentioned the following facts: in Kazakhstan the number of working people is 5 million 966 thousand, the average monthly salary is US$ 127, and the obligatory rate of pension deductions was 10%. In Chile, the number of working people is 3 million 700 thousand, average salary is US$ 499, while the rate of obligatory pension deductions is also 10%. After 6 months, the total value of pension assets in Kazakhstan was US$ 302 million, while in Chile, it was US$ 292 million.
Saken Amanzholov, the Committee to Regulate operations of Pension Funds chairman considers the reform completed. Presently 16 accumulating pension funds (APF) work in the country, including seven of them which have opened 25 subsidiaries and 17 representative offices. Amanzholov said the trend of strengthening non-state APF was observed. This circumstance proves people�s growing trust to these funds. As of November 1st, 1999 the number of depositors to non-state APF on obligatory pension deductions was 1 million 170 thousand. Amanzholov said for the total period the value of pension deductions was 41 billion 627 million tenge, including in 1999 � 19 billion 295.5 million tenge. The main mass of pension assets is being invested to state securities. 83.1% of the investment portfolio of non-state APF are international state securities, Eurobonds. In the state APF the biggest specific weight (90%) is of the special hard currency state bonds AB MEKAM-60.
Aidar Alibaev, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pension Funds said the specific weight of pension savings of the state APF was 54% of the total amount and during 10 months of this year it had reduced by 22.4 points. Correspondingly the share of pension savings in non-state APF was 46%. In Alibaev�s opinion, this is not appropriate, since the state has less number of securities. Besides, this situation is dangerous, as if the state announces default; pension savings of APF may be lost. Alibaev stated that soon they planed to privatize the state APF. As of November 1, 1999 the total value of pensions paid by APF was 1 billion 371 million tenge. From the beginning of APF�s operations pensions were paid to people of pension age (881 million tenge), people leaving the country (452.7 million), heirs (13.9 million tenge) and for burial ceremonies (23.5 million tenge).
�The law On Pension Provision in the Republic of Kazakhstan is neither clear nor perfect,� Yuryi Lysenko, the head of the juridical department of the Committee to regulate APF�s operations thinks. In his opinion, APF is quite a social institution and the fact that the Commission on Securities and Company Managing Pension Assets have been included in the pension system is still unclear. A depositor may present his claims only to APF, but not to the above-mentioned entities.
Aidar AKHMETOV
ALMATY, Dec 6
(THE GLOBE)
Irina Savostina, chair of the Pokolenye movement announced that as of November 1, 1999 there were 1,245,241 pensioners in Kazakhstan. The critical issue of pension reform depends directly on legislation. In Savostina�s opinion, the law cannot been considered functional if it need to be repeatedly supplemented. The Kazakhstani Law �On Pension provision in the Republic of Kazakhstan� has been changed and supplemented more than 100 times. It is a crime to issue the law that requires so many changes. In her opinion, the introduction of the Chile pension model was inappropriate, as the economic status of our countries is incomparable.
The Pokolenye chairman considers the state accumulating pension fund to be revised urgently. Savostina concluded that if the average pension had been equal to the Soviet one, any privileges would have not been required at all.
Parliamentarian Gani Kasymov expressed his opinion regarding pension reform. In his opinion, reform has not been realized. But it is not necessary to start it again. We should manage results right now by new methods and approaches.
�Automatically the pension is to be raised by 40%, at the rate as the standard of life decreased in Kazakhstan,� Kasymov thinks. He mentioned France as an example, where all municipal payments are only 25% of pension.
Kasymov considers it necessary to issue a Constitutional law prohibiting the revision of social laws, if such a reconsideration worsens the condition of vulnerable elements of the population. For example, reduction of social articles of the national budget would be prohibited.
Well, on the whole opinions of the political figure and the parliamentarian are the same. We will see if that has any significant results.
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