MOSCOW, Nov 12 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Monday into law a bill allowing members of the Russian parliament to renounce voluntarily a bonus paid on top of an official pension.
The document, published on the official database of legal information, states that the members of the State Duma lower parliament house and the Federation Council upper parliament house may turn down the bonus from Jan. 1, 2019.
Members of the two houses are entitled to social benefits equal to those of a government minister, deputy speakers to those of a deputy prime minister and speakers to those of a prime minister.
The monthly supplement to the pension of members of parliament (MP) equals 55 percent of the official old-age pension if they serve five to 10 years at the parliament and 75 percent if they serve more than 10 years.
The bill was passed by the Duma on Oct. 25 and by the Federation Council on Nov. 7.
RBC newspaper polled the 74 deputies who may be eligible for a bonus pension from next year after the bill was passed by the Duma.
According to the poll, only six of them said that they were ready to turn down the bonus, 34 declined to comment, 15 said they will not turn down the bonus, 10 had not yet decided, five said they would keep working and four said they were receiving their pensions from other sources.
Average Russian pension is currently equal to 13,348 rubles (about 197 U.S. dollars) per month, according to Rosstat official statistics service.
