The Government of Armenia has de-facto suspended the mandatory component of the Law on the Accumulative Pension until a new bill is introduced by 30 September 2014, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said in a statement, according to the government website.
The prime minister said his stance is the official stance of the government based on the results of discussions with representatives of "I'm Against" public interest group, political parties and the president of Armenia. On 28 April, the Government will begin studying a new bill on the pension reform. It is necessary to passed a bill meeting the Constitution and acceptable to wide sections of the population before 30 September.
The prime minister is sure that the pension reform in Armenia must have a mandatory component. "The pension reform must have a mandatory component, but it is necessary find the very reform that will be in favor of everyone and will create an incentive for the people to participate in the pension process basing on the principle of a mandatory but not binding pension. I am sure that the organizations that have increased salaries and undertook the burden of pension payments for their employees will continue making the payments. These amounts will not disappear. They belong to employees. I just ask you to wait for a few months until the mechanisms of recalculation of these funds are approved," Abrahamyan said.