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Russia’s Audit Chamber to check non-state pension funds

The check will be over by late September

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, May 31 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Audit Chamber has launched a large-scale check of non-state pension funds, a Chamber auditor, Vladimir Katrenko, said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper’s Friday issue.

According to Katrenko, the Audit Chamber will analyze the activities of non-state pension funds in the past ten years to see how efficiently they ensure the safety of people’s pension savings.

“All biggest non-state pension funds offering their services in the area of obligatory pension insurance will be subject to audit,” he said. “As a result we will have an objective picture of the efficiency of the Russian Pension Fund and a great number of private non-state pension funds from the point of view of safety of pension savings minus inflation losses. We want to analyze how the current system works, whether it is useful for the country and what kind of gaps in the legislation should be mended. We have never done anything of this kind so far.”

According to the newspaper, “another major goal of the Audit Chamber’s check will be to expose illegal actions by the managers of non-state pension funds, since the state budget is liable to compensate for possible losses.”

As of the beginning of 2013, more than 100 non-state pension funds were active across Russia. The check will be over by late September and based on its results the government may issue recommendations to the parliament to amend the current laws. In case any violations are found, the auditors may channel relevant documents to the police.

According to the Russian ministry of economic development, inflation in Russia in the period from 2005 to 2010 was 81.4 percent, while pension savings grew by mere 76.3 percent. It means that the state budget has to pay to compensate losses in pension savings.

“Investing money into the pension system, a person should be sure that in some 30 years his or her savings will grow or at least will not be lost because of inflation,” Katrenko said. “It is necessary to see to it that non-pension funds are not only after profits but first of all are concerned with how to save and increase people’s money.”

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