MOSCOW, March 7 (AVN) - The State Duma lower house of Russian parliament unanimously approved on the second reading on Wednesday the bill authorising the increase of pensions paid to Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of Russia and holders of the Order of Glory of three degrees, a spokesman for the Duma defence committee told the Military News Agency.
The bill envisages a 100 percent increase of pensions instead of earlier planned 50 percent. However the pension rate should not exceed 200 percent of a minimal retirement pension. The average amount of pensions paid to those categories of people is no more than RUR2,000 (USD69.76). The increase concerns only a bit over 300 people and will not cause considerable expenses out of the Russian Pension Fund.
During the discussion lawmakers suggested a number of amendments which limit benefits to family members of the people of those categories, but the amendments failed. Particularly, children of those categories of people can be enrolled into higher educational establishments without competitions if they pass entrance examinations.