According to the legislation, in order to receive an old-age labor pension, a citizen must either have a minimum pension capital or have accumulated at least 25 years of insurance tenure. Currently, the minimum pension capital amounts to 46,080 manats. If a person has 40,000 manats in their account, but this amount does not reach the required level and their insurance tenure is also less than 25 years, for example, 23 years, that person is not eligible for an old-age labor pension. In this case, they are granted only an old-age social allowance.
In such a situation, what happens to the remaining 30-40,000 manats in the citizen's pension capital? Is that amount returned to the individual, or does it remain in the system?
Medianews.az reports that economist Günay Hüseynova, speaking to Globalinfo.az, noted that if a person's employment tenure is not sufficient and they have not accumulated the necessary capital, but have reached retirement age, social allowance is provided:
"If the specified certain period is not reached, the person can work during that period and complete their tenure. In this case, the citizen can reapply and become eligible for a labor pension."
Regarding the fate of the 30-40,000 manats accumulated in the pension capital, the economist stated that no decision has been made:
"If there is a specific draft law, then up to 30-40% of the accumulated capital might be paid out. In case of the person's death, the amount to be paid will be divided equally among the heirs. If the person has credit or other debts, these will be deducted from the amount before payment to the heirs. As I mentioned earlier, there is no specific draft law on this matter. Citizens do not have the right to demand this from the government."
Günay Hüseynova also noted that the formation of private pension funds is envisaged:
"A kind of system similar to the 'individual retirement' system in Turkey. That is, any citizen, including non-working housewives, can contribute money to this fund and receive a pension when they gain the right. If the person dies, the heirs can receive a certain amount from the fund. I believe the operation of private pension funds would be more appropriate. Moreover, having an institution under state supervision is advantageous in terms of reliability and transparency. Naturally, strengthening the work regime of the labor inspectorate and implementing strict control measures are also important factors in this regard. Additionally, integration with the applications of state organizations and institutions is an important factor."