Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn has signed the law on pension reform and submitted it to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych for signing.
A statement posted on the parliament's official Web site reads that the law on pension reform was passed to the president for signature on Thursday.
The Verkhovna Rada passed the law on pension reform on July 7, 2011. But Lytvyn did not sign it for some time due to the fact that there were inaccuracies in the text of the document.
On September 6, the parliament passed the necessary amendments to the document. Then the parliament's legal department reworked the document to include the amendments.
If signed by the president, the law will come into force on October 1, 2011.
The parliament cancelled an amendment proposed by MP Arseniy Yatseniuk in July 2011 regarding the selection of the average salary for 2009 as the basis for calculating pensions, which would have lead to a sharp increase in the expenditures of the Pension Fund. The amendment concerned the recalculation from January 1, 2012 of pensions that are paid in line with the law on compulsory state pension insurance. The MPs justified their decision by the fact that the provision was inconsistent with Article 42 of the law.
The lawmakers also adopted a provision permitting officials who have reached the retirement age of 62 to stay in office if they have the necessary permission.
