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Medvedev against raising retirement age

MOSCOW, April 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Raising the statutory retirement age is not the way forward for Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told lawmakers on Tuesday. But voluntary working to a later age "will be more profitable," he told the State Duma lower house of parliament.

"This is a serious stimulus to continue working upon reaching retirement age,” Medvedev said, noting that over the past year, state authorities had worked to improve retirement pay.

A new formula based on size of salary, length of pensionable service and the age of application for a pension would influence the eventual result, he added, as lawmakers applauded his opposition to raising the age by law.

"I believe that we should not go this way," he told the house in presenting an annual government report.

But, he added, people would be interested in transforming informal labour relations into official employment contracts governing social benefits, allowances and guarantees.