OREANDA-NEWS. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed in the first reading the government bill No.6614 on amendments to legislative acts of Ukraine regarding increasing pensions. The respective decision was supported by 282 MPs.

The document is the basis in the package of bills on the pension reform elaborated by the Government, which encapsulates preservation of retirement age, the abolition of taxation of pensions for working retirees, the modernization of pensions from October 1 as well as the further automatic norm of annual indexation of pensions and the deficit-free budget of the Pension Fund in the medium term due to the increase of payment discipline in terms of a single social contribution.

Commenting on the necessity for the adoption of the said bill, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman stressed that this initiative is expected by millions of citizens. «We count on support (on the part of Parliament). The moment has come when we have to make a decision in the interests of the retirees, a solution that protects working persons», he asserted.

The Head of Government stressed that this landmark decision will allow starting from October 2017 to launch automatic indexation of pensions and to reduce the Pension Fund deficit.

«This is the moment of truth! Ukrainian pensioners are waiting for this decision», emphasized Volodymyr Groysman and thanked all members of the Parliament who worked and prepared the draft law for the first reading in synergy with the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. He underlined that the said initiatives had been developed for the benefit of all Ukrainians.