Forty percent of pension payments will go out of country

About 60 percent of the money collected after the introduction of the new pension law will remain in Armenia while 40 percent will flow overseas, Vahram Baghdasaryan, a lawmaker of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), told reporters on Monday. He says people are protesting against the mandatory pension component as they have no confidence in the system. "However, if the government is confident of its programs, I think that this program can be quite promising." Speaking about the socio-economic situation of Armenia, the BHK MP said he did not want ‘to speak words of praise,’ as the country is facing numerous problems: "There are serious problems in the legislative arena, market relations, economy, etc." Mr. Baghdasaryan says after Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to join the Customs Union a number of serious measures are being taken to inform people about the benefits of the Union. “The package is under consideration, with serious specialists engaged in the process. And when the package enters parliament, we should hold serious debates and changes and present it to public in its final form,” he concluded.