YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The social sector is an important one, there is much to be done in it as people are the focus of a social policy, and human fates are behind each decision. The RA minister of labor an social issues Arsen Hambartsumian stated this at the September 10 press conference dedicated to 100 days of his tenure. In his words, although it is incorrect to make haste, there will be no tangible progress without radical changes in the sector. The minister announced that an amended program of pension reforms will be soon submitted to the RA government for approval. The program envisages a shift to a multi-stage system consisting of two components: state distributive and private cumulative. A. Hambartsumian said that it is envisaged launching the reforms of the pension system in 2010. The system will be multi-stage. The first stage is a social pension: the state will provide everyone with a minimum social pension. The second stage is a labor pension: it is envisaged providing working persons over 40 with an income ecxceeding 1.5-fold the poverty line. The next is a compuslory cumulative pension: working persons under 40 will be provided with an income adequate to the established social payments. The final stage of the system is a voluntary cumulative pension which will be a source of extra income for old persons who make voluntary payments.

---