YEREVAN. – The Armenian authorities continue to implement a policy that encourages emigration, and an element of this policy is the introduction—despite the will of the society—of the mandatory funded pension system.

The Democratic party of Armenia (DPA) released a statement including the aforesaid.

“That stubbornness and deaf indifference by the government toward the public opinion forms a view that a deliberate and a dictated policy is implemented.    

“The authorities realize that this ‘reform’ not solely increases the [Armenian] citizen’s heavy social burden, but it strikes a blow to the small and medium-sized enterprises.

“The Democratic party of Armenia demands from the authorities to respect the Armenian Constitution and the CC [Constitutional Court] decision; pursue a policy so that 80 percent of our population would not be against the imposed [pension] system, but rather exercise the right of voluntary choice; [and] calls upon the Constitutional Court to make a judgment pursuant to the Armenian Constitution and the laws,” the DPA statement also reads.

The new funded pension plan, which formally came into force in Armenia on January 1, 2014, is mandatory for those born in and after 1974 and voluntary for those born before 1974. In line with this plan, 5 to 10 percent of the monthly salaries in Armenia will be deducted and mandatorily be allocated to cumulative pension funds; the latter will be reimbursed as pensions once a person turns 63 years old.      

On January 24, however, the Constitutional Court decided to suspend the execution of some components in the Law on Funded Pensions pending the hearing—on Friday—of the petition submitted by the four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary forces, and into the constitutionality of the several articles of the law.

Notwithstanding this, some employers already are deducting the mandatory pension payment from the salaries of their employees.