Regulation of Citizens' Rights in Pension Security in EAEU Countries

Relations concerning the rights of citizens of member states in the field of pension security are being regulated in EAEU countries. As reported by Armenpress, these regulations are expected to be encompassed in the agreement on "Pension Security for Workers of EAEU Member States." A draft decision to approve the signing of this document is included in the agenda of the Republic of Armenia's government meeting on October 17.

According to the justification provided, the draft agreement stipulates that an employee's pension rights are formed and exercised under the same conditions and procedures applied to the pension rights of citizens of the country where the worker has acquired their employment tenure. The pension will be exported, and each state will calculate and pay for the employment tenure acquired within its territory according to its own legislation, regardless of the member state of the draft agreement in which the individual resides (the "proportional" principle of pension entitlement realization).

The amount of pension cannot be reduced, and payments cannot be halted based on residence in another member state of the draft agreement. The pension for the employment tenure acquired after the entry into force of the draft agreement will be assigned and paid by the member state where the tenure was obtained, while for the tenure acquired prior to the agreement's enactment, the terms of the agreement dated March 13, 1992, will continue to apply.

Implementation of the draft agreement will be ensured through cooperation protocols between the authorized bodies and the Eurasian Economic Commission regarding the application of the agreement (herewith referred to as the Regulations), which will be approved by the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

It is anticipated that the draft agreement and the regulations will take effect in 2019, while the electronic document exchange processes between the authorized bodies in the field of pension security and the Eurasian Economic Commission will be facilitated by the EAEU-integrated information system software at a later stage.

According to the commission's experts, the architecture of the EAEU integrated information system does not possess schemes that would allow for the complete exchange of data between the existing information systems in the member states. Therefore, considering that the process of electronic document and personal data exchange within the draft agreement will be executed through the integrated information system (postal exchange has proven to be ineffective in practice), work is underway to create it.

Given the significance of the draft agreement in the context of new realities, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia finds it appropriate to sign the aforementioned agreement.