There is no need to look for bad intent where there is none. "Economist Sergey Alexchenko explained why the transfer of Russians' pension savings does not mean confiscating them. The former deputy chairman of the central bank, Sergey Alexchenko, sees no signs of withdrawing Russians' pension savings in the plans of the Ministry of Finance to automatically transfer them to the long-term savings program (LTS). In his opinion, the authorities intend to combine two similar systems, and not take money from citizens. "I don't see it as a trap, and of course, we are not talking about freezing the pension funds," Alexchenko concluded. The economist recalled that in 2014 the state actually froze new deposits to the financed part of the pension, and directed these funds to finance the current pension payments. However, the savings already created remained in the personal accounts of the citizens and continued to be invested. The authorities later launched a long-term austerity plan that, as Alekschenko said, offers Russians "the same thing, but only for your money." Now the state actually manages two similar systems: the old funded system, in which they stopped accepting mandatory contributions since 2014, and the new voluntary one. "This is a completely rational bureaucratic decision: if two systems do the same thing, but the money arrives here and hasn't arrived there for a long time, let's combine them," explained the economist.

There is no need to look for bad intent where there is none. "Economist Sergey Alexchenko explained why the transfer of Russians' pension savings does not mean confiscating them. The former deputy chairman of the central bank, Sergey Alexchenko, sees no signs of withdrawing Russians' pension savings in the plans of the Ministry of Finance to automatically transfer them to the long-term savings program (LTS). In his opinion, the authorities intend to combine two similar systems, and not take money from citizens. "I don't see it as a trap, and of course, we are not talking about freezing the pension funds," Alexchenko concluded. The economist recalled that in 2014 the state actually froze new deposits to the financed part of the pension, and directed these funds to finance the current pension payments. However, the savings already created remained in the personal accounts of the citizens and continued to be invested. The authorities later launched a long-term austerity plan that, as Alekschenko said, offers Russians "the same thing, but only for your money." Now the state actually manages two similar systems: the old funded system, in which they stopped accepting mandatory contributions since 2014, and the new voluntary one. "This is a completely rational bureaucratic decision: if two systems do the same thing, but the money arrives here and hasn't arrived there for a long time, let's combine them," explained the economist.