On December 1, President Vladimir Putin signed a bill that will make it possible to increase pension payments to former military personnel. This bill was proposed to parliamentarians for consideration at the end of November this year, and final approval from the Federation Council was received in December.
After the adoption of such a project, military pensioners are guaranteed to receive increased payments next year. According to preliminary estimates, pensions will increase by approximately 6.3%. This amount includes planned indexation in accordance with 4.3%, as well as an additional increase of 2% according to the law of 2013, according to which payments of pension benefits to military personnel must necessarily correspond to the amount of financial allowance during service.
Features of calculating preferential payments to pensioners of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
The calculation of pensions for police officers is regulated by Federal Law No. 4468-1, adopted back in 1991, according to which preferential payments are received by those who have served in the ranks of law enforcement agencies:
- at least 20 years;
- more than 12.5 years, subject to a total experience of 25 years.
Pensioners in this category receive payments through the Ministry of Internal Affairs:
- for length of service;
- due to disability received during service or as a result of combat injury or illness;
- for the loss of a breadwinner.
In addition, allowances are provided for military merit, the presence of dependents, awards, access to state secrets, participation in hostilities, service in hard-to-reach areas and hot spots.
How the Ministry of Internal Affairs pension increases: legislative framework
Pension payments for former police officers are indexed in proportion to the increase in the salaries of current employees.
In 2011, according to Federal Law No. 306, a reduction coefficient of 54% was introduced, which was planned to be increased annually by 2% in order to bring the provision of pensioners to 100% of allowances by 2035. Over 6 years, the size of the reduction coefficient increased to 72.23%, but the indexation of payments was frozen.
In 2021, the situation changed dramatically - payments were indexed, which resulted in an increase of 4%, but the reduction factor remained unchanged.
Against the background of the pension reform, which provides for an increase in the age and social pension, a lot of conflicting information has appeared regarding the pension provision of former law enforcement officers. First of all, the debate is about increasing the length of service to 25 years, as well as replacing the military pension with a one-time benefit.
Definitely, there will be changes in legislation, but at this stage the Duma does not plan to make significant adjustments to the laws on the basis of which pensions are calculated for law enforcement officers.
As for the increase in the Ministry of Internal Affairs pension in 2021, clarity will be made when the federal budget for next year is approved.
Ministry of Internal Affairs pensions in 2021: increases and latest news
In 2021, pensions for former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be increased from October 1. The increase in pensions will be made by indexing salaries by position and rank, taking into account which the amount of pension provision is calculated. In accordance with the law on the federal budget for 2021 (No. 385-FZ of December 8, 2020), from October 1, the pay of police officers will be indexed by 3.7% . In this case, the indexed salary amounts will be rounded upward to the nearest whole ruble.
Pensions for former police and other employees are not paid in full, but with a reduction factor. They started using it back in 2012, when the coefficient was set at 0.54. However, the PC value is gradually increasing, and in 2021 it will be equal to 0.7368 . That is, when calculating pension provision for length of service, 73.68% of the amount of monetary allowance is taken into account.
In connection with the increase in pay, the size of pensions for service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also be revised. Payments will be recalculated automatically; you will not need to personally apply for an increase. The payment for October will be received taking into account the indexation.
In accordance with Article 43 of Law No. 4468-1 of February 12, 1993, pensions for employees of internal affairs bodies and other departments are calculated from the amount of monetary allowance - salaries according to military rank and position established by the Government of the Russian Federation. If the Government of the Russian Federation indexes the salary of police officers, then the amount of the assigned pension provision is recalculated taking into account the current values of the official salary and salary by rank.
What indexation should military personnel expect in 2019?
The president mentioned the upcoming promotion back in the summer, so all former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were already expecting it. However, recipients have some concerns in this regard, because similar promises have already been made not just once, but over the course of several years. The existing stereotype that the military has the largest pension payments is in fact not justified, since only those employees who left military practice in the rank of officer and with an impressive track record receive a truly high pension. For rank and file, salaries are usually not too high, which is why pensions are small.
If we take the indicators of pension payments throughout the country, then it is about 26 thousand rubles, but not all former military personnel receive this amount. Some military personnel living in the Russian hinterlands receive from 10 to 15 thousand, almost the same as ordinary civilians. For these reasons, asking for a 2% increase involves lifting the freeze on such payments, which is why it is so important.
If this law is unfrozen next year, then military pensioners will be able to receive not 4%, but as much as 6% as an addition to their pension, and this will be tangible support for their family budget. It is actually difficult to say whether the Ministry of Internal Affairs pensions will increase or not in 2021, much less to say how accurately the increase will occur. But one thing we can say with confidence is that funds for these needs have been allocated in the required amount and included in the budget for the next year.
Why was the reduction factor introduced?
The issue of military pensions is quite controversial. On the one hand, it must be worthy in order to encourage citizens to connect their lives with serving Russia. On the other hand, too high a pension provision is a strong blow to the budget, so legislators regularly make decisions limiting the growth of pensions for employees.
The amount of a military pension depends on a number of indicators:
- service life;
- retirement age;
- length of service;
- ranks;
- presence of injuries in service;
- disability;
- the amount of allowance in accordance with the rank.
Once the amount of the pension is calculated due to inflation and changes in employee benefits, it will gradually increase in size. This process will be influenced by two indicators - the size of the indexation of military allowances and the size of the reduction factor.
The reduction coefficient was introduced in 2012 after the amount of allowance increased several times as a result of reforms. It turned out that the state will pay more money to pensioners than to employees. It was decided that a military pensioner could not have a pension equal to his allowance, so a coefficient was introduced that did not allow him to exceed this amount. It did not change for quite a long time, since there was a crisis in the country. After the level of income of military pensioners began to rapidly approach the regular social pension, the government decided to change the situation. The reduction coefficient is regularly reviewed and 2021 was no exception, so thanks to its change, pensions will increase.
When to expect a raise: January or October
Due to the fact that the increase in pensions is discussed in the context of January 1, 2021, many pensioners have a logical question: why then is October of next year mentioned, and in the global network there is no specificity at all when to expect an increase.
We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the schedule for the upcoming pension increase next year:
- In January, it is planned to increase payments to pensioners who left their work practice; we are talking about indexation in the amount of 7.05%;
- an increase in payments to pensioners receiving social assistance from the state is scheduled for April, in this case the increase will correspond to 2.4%;
- in August there will be an increase for working pensioners, do not delude yourself too much on this score, because here an increase is possible only by recalculating the length of service;
- in October, pensions for former military department employees will be increased, as mentioned earlier, the increase will be by 6.3%.
In our opinion, the increase will occur as planned, because today the government has no prerequisites for ignoring them.
Innovations for former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in October 2021
The President of the Russian Federation, in addition to increasing pensions for former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, made several other decisions that will definitely be implemented. These decisions will definitely not add joy to former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, despite this, among all these decisions a holistic, not so gloomy picture is already beginning to emerge.
Receiving free treatment for military pensioners only in special clinics
Previously, in any part of Russia, every retired employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had the opportunity to go to a hospital to receive free medical care. This year the authorities reviewed this law and made changes to it. At the moment, pensioners who served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs can receive free care exclusively in medical institutions related to the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
A trip to the sanatorium only once a year
Until now, pensioners of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who had medical conditions received the right to take vouchers to sanatoriums without any payment. Now this can only be done once a year.
Reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - main news, length of service, pension increase 2021
New rules of the game
The draft law currently being developed by the government on raising the retirement age does not apply to security forces. However, sources in the corridors of power said that in parallel, changes are now being discussed regarding the payment of departmental pensions to law enforcement officers, the gosrf.ru portal reports.
There are three scenarios for pension reform regarding security forces:
- Raising the minimum retirement age from 45 to 50 from 2021
- Increasing length of service to 25 years for police officers from 2019
- Increasing the length of service of police officers in the future to 30 years
In mid-June, it became known that the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, were discussing increasing the minimum length of service for military personnel and security officials for retirement.
This was stated by First Deputy Prime Minister Anton Siluanov, who also happens to be the Minister of Finance. This is one of the proposals that the ministry is currently working on. Let us note that when preparing the pension reform, it was the scenario of Siluanov’s ministry that was adopted by the government, because his team proposed raising the retirement age for women to 63 years, and for men to 65.
Currently, the minimum length of service for security forces, which gives them the right to receive a departmental pension, is 45 years, for both employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB. Due to the difference in length of service in the north and during combat operations, soldiers and officers can count on a state pension from the age of 40. To retire, it is now enough for employees of two law enforcement agencies to accumulate a work experience of 20 years. However, it is known that amendments to increase the minimum length of service for internal affairs officers have already been prepared, but the government is still delaying their adoption. Therefore, the pension reform will not bypass the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Apparently, the corresponding bill will be approved by the government in 2021. Three years ago, the Cabinet of Ministers already considered the scenario of increasing the minimum service life from 20 to 30 years, but this option was rejected. In general, proposals to increase the lower limit of length of service for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been heard since 2013, when the country’s economy began to openly stagnate, which was compounded a year later by sanctions and falling oil prices.
The increase in length of service is associated with excessive expenses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on salaries and pensions of 400 billion rubles. Internal forces employees did not receive the expected indexation in 2017. But the incomes of employees of the Federal Security Service were increased by 6% (at the inflation rate), and the pensions of FSB retirees were indexed by another 4%. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not have to support the Russian Guard, then perhaps they could also participate in the “auction of unprecedented generosity” of the government. Or at least they could index the incomes and pensions of their employees.
The cardinal option for pension reform for security forces is the abolition of departmental pensions as such. The most severe scenario for the development of events that the Ministry of Finance proposes is a transition from lifelong payments to law enforcement agencies to a one-time allowance with subsequent employment in the civilian world.
It has already been calculated that if such a proposal concerns not only law enforcement officers and penitentiary authorities, but also employees of the security and foreign intelligence services, fire departments, investigators, prosecutors, as well as the military, then 500-700 billion will be saved in the budget annually rubles (!). The general Russian public can only be pleased with this news: then there is no need for everyone to raise the retirement age, when such savings can be achieved at the expense of the security forces, who are already retiring early and working in civilian life. But not everything is so simple.
Increase in pensions: when is it planned and by how much?
In 2021, a decision was made to grant the right to receive a labor pension at a later date.
Interior Ministry officials were concerned that the minimum length of service required to receive state benefits would also increase. However, this has not happened yet.
The latest news published by TASS indicates that this issue is not planned for discussion.
Representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs A. Avdeenko assured the public that no one in the department or in the government is even studying this issue. There is no reform project to increase length of service requirements and is not being prepared.
The government raised the issue of gradually increasing the minimum length of service that gives the right to receive long-service payments to 25 years.
The initiative has not yet been formalized as a bill, so such changes should not be expected in the near future.
The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs only says that the age limit for work in law enforcement agencies will be increased.
For example, a person with a special rank must retire from service at age 50. This is an unnecessary restriction given the current level of life expectancy and quality of medical services.
Since 2011, the indexation of payments to former employees of law enforcement agencies took place due to an increase in the payment ratio - the income of pensioners approached the earnings of current employees.
In 2021 and 2021, due to a lack of budget funding, this practice was suspended.
The amount of the pension is strictly tied to the payments that current police officers receive in connection with their existing ranks and positions.
Indexation of income of pensioners of law enforcement agencies, for example, in connection with inflation, is not provided.
The latest decisions of the President of the Russian Federation indicate that the state does not ignore the needs of pensioners of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Therefore, in October 2019, the pension will increase by 4%. This is due to an increase in the salaries of existing employees.
The budget also plans more than 600 billion rubles to increase pensions for former employees of law enforcement agencies for the period 2020-2022.
Every year, police salaries and pensions for former employees will increase by approximately 3-4%. There are no plans to increase the coefficients establishing the ratio of pensions and salaries in the police.
If a citizen receives a 2nd pension on a general basis, then his income will increase more. In the fall of 2021, it is planned to increase payments based on seniority by 7%.
To calculate the exact amount by which a particular pensioner’s income will increase, you should wait until October 2021.
