MINSK, 2 November (BelTA) – The social security agreement between Belarus and Estonia is to be signed by the end of the year, head of the pension department at the Labor and Social Security Ministry Elena Gomorova said during an online conference on the websites of BelTA and the Labor and Social Security Ministry.
“Experts of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Estonia have drafted a social security agreement. Belarus has already finalized interstate procedures needed to sign the document. The agreement is expected to be signed by the end of the year. The agreement should be ratified in order to become valid,” Elena Gomorova said.
As far as pension provision is concerned, the agreement is based on a principle of proportionality. In order words, each state will pay pension benefits for each year of employment on its territory. The agreement provides for the revision of pension benefits assigned before the agreement came into force. This will cover cases when years of employment of the territory of the other state were not included in the pensionable age.
Apart from that, the pension provision agreement signed between the Republic of Belarus and the Czech Republic on 14 March 2018 is undergoing ratification procedures. In line with the document, each state will pay pension benefits for each year of employment on its territory provided insurance premiums were paid during the period of work. In order to apply for pensions provided by the agreement (after it comes into force), one should approach a local labor, employment and social security office.
Belarus is party to the multilateral pension provision agreement in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The country signed bilateral agreements on pension provision with Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia and Azerbaijan. Apart from the abovementioned agreement with Estonia, Belarus is drafting a similar agreement with Poland.