MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. When Russian President Vladimir Putin openly and honestly explained the necessity of pension reform to the public, he demonstrated political courage, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a media forum on Wednesday.
"Wasn’t the whole truth on pension reform revealed? Didn’t the Russian president come out and address the people? He thought it was necessary that he himself explain it to the public," Peskov told the forum organized by the Kommersant Publishing House.
"He explained why the Russian government was making this decision. There were no lies there, it was the whole truth and nothing else," the spokesman affirmed, stressing that this was another "example of the president’s unprecedented political courage.
Responding to the position that the government had tried to hide the devaluation of the ruble and a looming surge in the dollar, Peskov reiterated, "Didn’t Nabiullina (Central Bank chairperson) urge everyone not to give into this emotional turbulence and not to pay attention to those speculative actions?" "The ones who rushed to the foreign exchange offices simply turned a deaf ear to her, even though they were told, ‘don’t buy, it will bounce back’".
The new Russian legislation raises the retirement age for men from 60 to 65, and for women from 55 to 60. The Russian government initially planned to hike the retirement age for women to 63. However, President Vladimir Putin suggested that the age be increased to 60. According to the law, men with 42 years of job tenure and women with 37 years of work experience have the right to early retirement.