Parliament adopts law to suspend mandatory funded pensionsMay 15, 2014 - 16:16 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia’s National Assembly has passed a law at a Thursday, May 15 session to suspend mandatory funded pensions, ARKA reported. Under the amendments, Armenian citizens who want to get a refund for the pension fees charged since January 1 2014 should write an application. The amendment provisions are temporary and will be valid until legislation is changed as required by the April 2 Constitutional Court ruling (deadline for the final law is September 30). The bill was passed with 67 votes for and 18 against; 29 MPs abstained from voting. Non-coalition Prosperous Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutiun and Orinats Yerkir factions said they did not oppose to the bill as it was half a step ahead of the previous law, but abstained from the vote. Orinats Yerkir faction voted against the bill in this second reading, as, the secretary of the faction Hovhannes Margaryan said, the government turned down their proposal to allow citizens that are against the new system withdrawing of payments without application. The Armenian National Congress and the Heritage factions also voted against the amendment. Related links: Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |