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What one needs to know about receiving a pension in EEU countries Printable version

Last update: 23.02.2023

The Pension Agreement for Working Population of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States: the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter: EEU) came into force on January 1, 2021.

The Agreement stipulates the procedure and mechanism for exporting pensions from one country of the Union to another and provides for the summation of employment period in the EEU states to determine the right to pensions.

The objective of the pension agreement

The main goal of the Agreement is to develop the pension rights of working population of the EEU member states on the same conditions and in the same manner as citizens of the state of employment have. It means that each EEU member state should provide a guarantee to citizens of other EEU member states on the scope of rights for pension provision equal to the scope of rights granted to its citizens on similar conditions.

Assignment and payment of pensions is performed under the following procedure:

  • for length of employment acquired after the entry into force of the Agreement, a pension is assigned and paid by a EEU member state on the territory of which a corresponding length of employment was acquired;
  • for the length of employment acquired before the entry into force of the Agreement, a pension is assigned and paid pursuant to the legislation of EEU member states and the Safeguards Agreement on Guarantee of the Rights for Citizens of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the field of Pension Provision as of March 13, 1992, and for the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation it is the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus on cooperation in the field of social security as of January 24, 2006.

Previously, this matter was not regulated and employment period of Kazakhstani citizens in other EEU states was not taken into account when calculating their pension payments.

Here, on the Eurasian Economic Commission website, you can familiarize with the complete text of the Agreement. 

Which scope of rights for pension provision is available for citizens of other EEU member states?

Citizens of other member states will be entitled to receive a pension on the territory of country of residence or EEU member state that has assigned a pension.

For example, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, working in Russia, made the required contributions but did not receive a pension for the period of work in Russia.

After the entry into force of the document, EEU working population will receive a pension for the periods of work both at home and in other EEU states.

Thus, an Armenian citizen who after the entry into force of the Agreement will work for five years in Russia, three years in Belarus, one year in Kazakhstan and the remaining time in Armenia, will receive a pension in four countries, i.e., in each country for a specific period of work.

Considering that each EEU member state will pay a worker a part of pension adequate to the period of work and pension contributions will be made in a country of employment, it is vital that workers who are citizens of EEU countries formalize labour relations with employers in EEU member states, including Kazakhstan, i.e., enter into employment or civil law contracts in a timely manner.

The Agreement implies that legal labour migrants will receive pensions from countries where they have worked for at least 1 year.

A pension amount and the list of documents for assignment and payment of pensions will be regulated by the national legislation of each EEU member state.

The Agreement stipulates the procedure and mechanism for exporting pensions from one country of the Union to another and provides for the summation of employment period in the EEU states to determine the right to pensions.

Each EEU member state will pay (export) a pension to a worker for the length of employment on its territory.

Thus, pensions will be paid by a country where a worker carried out his/her activities, including cases of his/her residence in the territory of another EEU member state.

If a person does not have enough work experience on the territory of one member state of the Union to receive a pension, then it is allowed considering the work experience acquired on the territories of other EEU countries.

At the same time, if a worker from one of the EEU countries who worked in the Republic of Kazakhstan moved to a permanent place of residence to another country (not EEU country), then pursuant to the national pension legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, he/she is entitled to pension payments from the IAPF at the expense of his/her pension savings, but only upon reaching a retirement age.

Upon the death of a worker (a citizen of a member state in which pension rights are formed or formed through employment or other activities in the territory of another member state), a family member has the right for a pension in accordance with the legislation of the member states.

It means that pension savings of a deceased worker are transferred to his/her heirs in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code.

If a worker`s length of employment acquired on the territory of one member state is not sufficient for accrual of the right to a pension (except of a funded pension), then a length of employment acquired in other EEU countries will be taken into account, including the period before the entry into force of the Agreement, with the exception of cases when such work experience coincides in time.  

For this purpose, the relevant authorities of the EEU countries will exchange information on the availability of work experience of a worker through the special information record forms developed by the authorized and relevant authorities of the EEU countries in cooperation with EEC.

Until transfer to digital interaction through the EEU integrated information system, the parties will use hard-copy document workflow.

To which agencies should one apply for a pension assignment?

In Kazakhstan, the Agreement is applied to pension payments:

  • upon reaching a retirement age;
  • upon confirmation of disability of the first and second groups, if a disability is established for an indefinite period;
  • lump-sum payment to heirs.

Pension payments will be made from the Integrated Accumulative Pension Fund (IAPF).

From January 1, 2021, an employer who involved a worker from the EEU countries under an employment/ a civil law contract is obliged to regularly transfer mandatory pension contributions to the IAPF in the amount of 10% of the worker's monthly income, but not more than 50 times the minimum wage.

Сonclusion of contract on pension provision with the IAPF is not required, as mandatory pension contributions are transferred to an individual pension account in the IAPF, which opens upon receipt of contributions.

Mandatory pension contributions and mandatory professional pension contributions to the Integrated Accumulative Pension Fund are subject to payment by agents in the manner and within the timeframes determined by the Law "On Pension Provision in the Republic of Kazakhstan" (Clause 1, Clause 7 of Article 24 of the Law).

For all matters regarding the assignment of pension payments, citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan and other EEU member states should contact the IAPF directly.

Subsequently, workers should also contact the IAPF during creation of right to pension provision and submit documents for their forwarding to the relevant authorities of the member states in which they carried out labour activities and will be entitled to receive a pension for the employment periods.

If, for example, a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan worked in the Russian Federation, then upon accrual of the right to a pension according to the legislation of the Russian Federation, he/she does not need to go back to the Russian Federation and submit an application and relevant documents for the assignment of a pension. It is enough to contact a relevant authority in a country of residence, i.e. the IAPF.

The same mechanism for application submission is applied in other EEU member states when the right to a pension arises.

Can a Kazakhstani citizen receive a pension in EEU member states, if he/she did not work there?

The provisions of the Agreement ratified on December 7, 2020 apply only to migrant workers, i.e., individuals temporarily staying in another country due to their employment there.

Thus, the Agreement is not applied to the Kazakhstani citizens who did not work in the EEU countries before the entry into force of the new Agreement and who moved to live there after retirement.

This matter is regulated by the Safeguards Agreement on Guarantee of the Rights for Citizens of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the field of Pension Provision as of March 13, 1992, to which all the EEU member states are parties.

Pursuant to the Agreement as of 1992, provision of pensions to citizens of the countries which are parties to the Agreement and their family members is carried out in accordance with the legislation of a country on the territory of which they live.

Assignment of pensions to citizens of the countries which are parties to the Agreement as of 1992 is performed at the place of residence.

To establish the right to a pension, including pensions on preferential terms and for length of service, the length of employment acquired on the territory of any of the states, as well as on the territory of the former USSR for the time before the entry into force of the Agreement of 1992 is taken into account for citizens of the countries which are parties to the Agreement as of 1992.

Upon a pensioner`s migration within the member states of the Agreement, payment of pension at a previous place of residence is terminated if pension of the same type is provided for by the legislation of a country at a new place of residence.

The pension rate is reviewed pursuant to the legislation of a country which is party to the Agreement at a new place of a pensioner`s residence under the conditions stipulated by the Agreement as of 1992.

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