Vice Premier and Social Policy Minister of Ukraine Sergiy Tigipko confirmed that he is ready to resign, if the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, does not consider the bill on pension reform.
"This will mean to me that the authorities are not ready to take decisions for the country that are important but unpopular," the press service of the Strong Ukraine Party cited Tigipko as saying.
The vice premier noted that the completed bill on the pension reform in Ukraine includes eleven principal changes made to the previous version.
According to him, the government is planning to work on further steps on pension reform in the near future.
"First of all, we have to specify in detail everything that concerns the second level of the defined contribution pension system, under which every person will have a personal pension account," Tigipko said.
He noted that the government, in particular, would consider the issue of minimizing expenditures on administration of the second level and the protection of the accumulated funds.
"Many countries lost huge assets during the crisis, because they allowed pension funds to be invested in shares. We have to develop mechanisms for the protection of pension assets," the premier said.
In addition, Tigipko said that 28 laws regulating the provision of pensions to some categories of citizens, such as judges, prosecutors, and state officials, have to be revised.
"We have to pass to a single system of pensions provision," he noted.
The International Monetary Fund is expecting Ukraine to conduct pension reform and either to increase gas prices or carry out compensation measures to continue their cooperation under the Stand-By Arrangement.
Earlier Communist Party has slammed the bill on pension reform and repeated its demand for the Tigipko’s dismissal .
