Ombudsman addresses Parliament to ensure pensions for people in occupied regions
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, November 9
Georgia’s Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili has addressed the Parliament of Georgia with a legislative proposal regarding amendments to the Georgian Law on Pensions.
Nanuashvili says that amendments to the law should be made in such a way that people employed in the public sector in the occupied territories (Abkhazia and Tskhinvali) have the opportunity to continuously receive a state pension.
The Ombudsman says that as a result of the occupation of the Georgian regions by Russia people have to live in a “particularly difficult” social, economic and legal situation.
“State programs are not fully accessible in the occupied territories; there is no effective system of legal and social protection; the ethnic Georgian population daily experiences discrimination due to their nationality and native language,” Nanuashvili stated.
The Public Defender said that taking into consideration the existing problems, it is necessary to make relevant amendments to the law which would ensure the protection of persons working in the occupied territories from a uniform approach.
According to the Public Defender's legislative proposal, amendments should be made to the subparagraph "c" of Article 4 of the Law of Georgia on State Pensions and "paid labour activities carried out in the occupied territories of Georgia should be added to the list of activities that are not regarded as public activities.”
It is now up to Parliament to decide whether to foresee the Ombudsman’s recommendation or not.
Parliament will also have to discuss the bill drafted by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and the National Bank of Georgia about the accumulated pension.
The new pension system for Georgia may cut 2 percent from employed people’s untaxed salaries and put the money on the pension accounts.
The government wants to make the new system active from the next year.
The pension age for females in Georgia is 60 and 65 for males.
The current monthly pension in Georgia is GEL 180.
