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Growing
Pains
By Philip Marriott, Moscow News, August 18-24, 2004
According to a recent research paper (Kosmarskaya,
9/4/04) only 5% of Russians outside the dominant power
industries contribute to a private pension scheme
leaving the rest reliant on the state pension to see
them through old age - a frightening prospect in a
country with a falling birth rate and an ageing population
and, at the same time, with a lack of the services
provided in other ageing countries such as those in
Western Europe.
Nuts
and Bolts of Social Reform
By Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow Times, August 13,
2004
Supporters of the controversial bill, which was rushed
through both chambers of parliament and is now awaiting
President Vladimir Putin's signature to become law,
say the changes will make welfare assistance more
targeted and fair.
Opponents, who have staged nationwide rallies against
the legislation, fear the plan will only impoverish
retirees, war veterans, the disabled, Chernobyl cleanup
workers and others. They say cash payments will soon
be eaten up by inflation and not cover the cost of
the benefits that recipients now enjoy, while groups
paid by cash-poor regions and not the federal government
may be left empty-handed.
Russia's
Poor Cut Adrift by Putin's Revolution
The Guardian (UK), August 12, 2004
A plan to replace this treasured system of social
benefits, which includes housing subsidies, free public
transport, discounts on prescription medication, free
artificial limbs and spa treatment, with a straight
cash payment has sparked weeks of noisy demonstrations,
the first since Mr Putin took power in 2000.
The
Law on Preservation of Benefits
By Boris Vishnevsky, Novaya Gazeta, August 9, 2004
"Someone must have got what we didn’t receive,
right?" my intelligent Dad used to say. And again
I see that he was right here: the citizens lost their
benefits, whence the bureaucrats obtained benefits.
Upheavals
Won't Spare Us this Autumn
Poll for politicians prepared by Lyudmila Uvarova,
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 9, 2004
Sergei
Mitrokhin, Deputy Chairman of the YABLOKO party:
The second part of anti-social reforms - the Housing
Code, which will affect the lives of more people -
will be viewed this fall. It will affect almost all
residents, probably with the exception of 5% owners
of the elite housing. Therefore, the strain will be
enhancing in our society.
YABLOKO
is going to question in the Constitutional Court of
the RF the lawfulness of the draft law on monetization
of social benefits after this law comes into force
Finamarket, August 5, 2004
Such a statement was made by deputy of the State Duma
and member of the YABLOKO party Sergei Popov to the
Ekho Moskvi radio station. He also noted that there
is no doubt that the President would sign the bill.
State
Duma Passes Controversial Benefits Bill in Last Reading
MosNews, August 5, 2004
309 Duma voted for the bill, while 118 voted against
it. The bill was passed almost exclusively by the
pro-president majority United Russia party, with opposition
factions lobbying fellow parliamentarians to vote
against the bill.
Old
Lies No Longer Work
By Boris Kagarlitsky, The Moscow Times, August 5,
2004
Day after day the television news is filled with shots
of smiling pensioners tickled pink by the Kremlin's
plan to replace benefits for socially vulnerable groups
with cash payments. And day after day opinion polls
record growing hostility to the reforms among average
Russians.
Monetising
Ordinary Citizens the Authorities "Forget" Bureaucrats
By Kira Latukhina and Natalia Melikova, Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, August 4, 2004
The main and most radical measure of the recent period
has been the preservation for the bureaucrats of all
their former benefits plus an appreciable rise in
salaries. Reformers' justification is that in this
way they will curb corruption. This is a very doubtful
argument...
Benefits
Bill Steamrollered Through
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, August 4, 2004
The bill passed without encountering any heated discussions
as the entire pro-Kremlin United Russia majority voted
unanimously for all the amendments supported by the
Kremlin, and automatically rejected amendments proposed
by the opposition.
Putin
Feels Fallout Over Plan to Eliminate Soviet-Era Benefits
By Susan B. Glasser, Washington Post, August 3, 2004
Russia is poised to dismantle the remnants of the
Soviet-era social safety net for as many as 100 million
of its poorest citizens, replacing many free services
with cash payments in a controversial experiment that
has sent President Vladimir Putin's approval rating
down sharply.
Russian
Parliament Tackles Controversial Social Reform
Associated Press, August 3, 2004
The bill is part of the unpopular and potentially
painful reforms Russian president Vladimir Putin pledged
to tackle during his second term.
Large
Protest Against Social-Benefits Reform Held in Central
Moscow
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, July 30, 2004
Participating in the meeting were Chernobyl survivors
and members of the Communist, Yabloko, Motherland,
and Liberal Democratic parties under the slogan, "All
for One," ITAR-TASS reported. Protesters carried
signs reading "Hands off Benefits!" and
"It's Easy to Cancel [Something], Harder to Resolve
It."
Deputies
Submit Populist Amendments To Controversial Bill On
Social Benefits
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, July 24, 2004
Of the 1,200 proposed amendments that have been submitted
to a controversial government bill that would replace
in-kind social benefits with cash payments, not more
than 30 are expected to be adopted, Deputy Duma Speaker
Vyacheslav Volodin said on 22 July, "Parlamentskaya
gazeta" reported on 23 July.
A
Pale Imitation The impending reforms are worse
than unfair - they're simply stupid
By Yulia Kalinina, Moskovskiy Komsomolets, June 11,
2004
For the past four years the regime has been busy clearing
away the rubble of perestroika. Now it is starting
to set "truly long-term goals" to replace
the rubble - to borrow the phrase used by President
Putin in his annual address to parliament.
Poor
Benefits for the Poor
By Ella Paneyakh, Vedomosti, May 31,2004
Take any radio talk broadcast whatever journalists
and experts might discuss, the air is flooded by calls
from pensioners who ask one and the same question:
how can a pensioner survive now that the government
has dared to lay its hands upon fringe benefits
Russia's
poorest face huge cuts in benefits
Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow, The Guardian (UK), June
1, 2004
Galina Mihaleva, director of the Centre for Modern
Politics Research, said: "Putin and the government
declare the fight with poverty [is] their priority.
But in reality they are pursu ing the social policies
of the extreme right, depriving the most vulnerable
elements of society of the minimal benefits they still
have."
She added: "These measures hit the disabled,
veterans and pensioners hardest, because in reality
the privileges they have today are much bigger than
the compensation the government is offering."
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