MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. It is necessary to raise the retirement age in Russia starting 2019-2020, Chief of the Center for Strategic Research (CSR) and ex-finance minister Aleksei Kudrin said in an interview with TASS.

"We assume it is necessary to start in 2019 or 2020," he said, adding that this is an urgent issue.

According to Kudrin, Russia can accumulate substantial economic resources within 10-16 years after the retirement age hike is launched. "During the first year of shifting to a new retirement age, only a small group of employed people will continue work and retire half a year later. Then there will be another such group, and the process will stretch into 10-16 years. There will be an accumulated effect," he said.

Meanwhile, the move will not affect today’s pensioners, but only those who will retire in the future, Kudrin said. "This measure (retirement age hike) does not solve all problems related to deficit in the pension system, but does solve a major part of them. I consider it to be an important step. The retirement age hike does not concern pensioners, but only those who work and plan to retire in the future," he said.

Earlier First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund David Lipton said in an interview with TASS that Russia is recommended to reexamine the retirement age in order to maintain strong pension payments. It is also important to reexamine the retirement age over time as the situation when retirees retire very early in life means that the average pension for everyone in the system is lower.

In end-September 2016, Russia’s Central Bank and Finance Ministry launched proposals to upgrade the system of retirement savings. In December 2016, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the system of individual retirement capital would be introduced in Russia jointly with the new tax system in 2019.