Can Employment in Kyrgyzstan Be Counted Towards a Pension in Ukraine?
Modern life has made Ukrainians increasingly mobile, and many Ukrainian citizens have lived and worked abroad for substantial periods of their lives. Some eventually return to Ukraine when approaching retirement, which raises an important question: what happens to the employment and insurance periods accumulated abroad?
Entitlement to an old-age pension in Ukraine depends on reaching the statutory retirement age and having the required insurance record. Therefore, a person who has spent many years working outside Ukraine, for example in Kyrgyzstan, may need to determine whether those foreign employment periods can be taken into account when establishing pension entitlement in Ukraine.
International agreements concerning pension provision have traditionally operated according to two principal models:
1. Territorial principle. Under this model, responsibility for pension provision is generally connected with the country in which the pensioner resides, while qualifying employment periods accumulated in other participating states may be taken into account in accordance with the applicable international rules.
2. Proportional principle. Under this model, each contracting state generally grants and pays the part of the pension corresponding to the insurance or employment periods accumulated under its own legislation.
Historically, pension relations involving Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan were governed by the 1992 Agreement on Guarantees of the Rights of Citizens of the CIS Member States in the Field of Pension Provision. This international framework was based primarily on the territorial principle.
Under that framework, pension provision for citizens of the participating states and members of their families was generally determined according to the legislation of the state in which they resided. Consequently, a person residing in Ukraine and applying for a pension was generally subject to Ukrainian pension legislation.
One of the important features of the historical CIS pension framework was the possibility of taking into account employment periods accumulated in other participating states and, subject to the relevant conditions, periods accumulated in the territory of the former USSR.
Such periods could be relevant not only to an ordinary old-age pension but also, where the applicable rules were satisfied, to pensions on preferential terms and pensions for years of service.
Accordingly, employment periods accumulated in Kyrgyzstan could historically be taken into account when determining entitlement to a pension in Ukraine under the international pension arrangements applicable at the relevant time.
The historical framework also contained rules concerning the calculation of pensions on the basis of earnings received during qualifying employment periods. Where different national currencies were involved, special mechanisms could apply to the treatment or conversion of foreign earnings for pension calculation purposes.
A separate issue arises where a pension has already been granted in Kyrgyzstan and the pensioner subsequently moves permanently to Ukraine.
Under the territorial model historically used by the CIS pension agreement, a change of permanent residence between participating states could result in the pension payment at the former place of residence being discontinued where the same type of pension was provided under the legislation of the new country of residence.
The person could then apply to the competent pension authority in the new country of residence so that pension entitlement and the amount payable could be determined under the rules applicable there.
However, it is particularly important to distinguish these historical pension rules from the legal framework applicable today. International pension arrangements involving Ukraine and a number of former CIS states have changed significantly since the 1992 Agreement was concluded.
Therefore, a person applying for a Ukrainian pension today should not rely solely on the rules that historically applied under the CIS Agreement. It is necessary to determine which international legal framework applies to the specific periods of employment in Kyrgyzstan and to the pension application at the relevant time.
The date on which the employment was performed may be particularly important. Different rules may apply to periods accumulated during the Soviet era, periods accumulated after the independence of Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, and periods completed after changes to the international pension framework.
Applicants should retain all available documents confirming employment in Kyrgyzstan, including employment record books, archival certificates, salary information and other documents establishing the relevant employment or insurance periods.
If the Pension Fund of Ukraine refuses to recognise periods of employment accumulated in Kyrgyzstan, the precise reasons for the refusal should be examined. Depending on the period concerned, the applicable international rules and the available evidence, there may be grounds to challenge the Pension Fund’s decision before an administrative court.
