Attachment 8 - Annex 8.doc

UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION

UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION

DRAFT

As of 04.03.2009

LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

ON STATE PENSIONS

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. The Pension System of the Republic of Armenia

1. The pension system of the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter referred to as the System) incorporates:

1) the state pension security,

2) the mandatory funded pension component,

3) the voluntary pension component.

2. The relationships pertaining to the state pension security, mandatory funded pension component and voluntary pension component shall be regulated by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

3. In the cases and in the manner prescribed by law the state pension security shall guarantee the implementation of social security of the legally identified individuals (hereinafter also referred to as the state pension system) at the cost of the State budget.

4. The mandatory funded pension component shall ensure the payment of funded pension benefits to individuals as prescribed by law from mandatory funded contributions and return on their investment if these individuals qualify for an old age pension.

5. The voluntary pension component shall ensure the payment of supplementary income (pension benefit) to individuals from voluntary funded contributions and return on their investment or insurance fees if these individuals qualify for an old age pension.

Article 2. Subject of the Law

1. This Law regulates the relationships pertaining to the management and financing of the state pension security, as well as establishes the powers of the state governance authorized body of the pension sector, the types of state pensions, requirements for granting of pension, and the procedure for their payment.

2. In accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, norms of pension security other than the ones enshrined herein may be laid down for individual groups of citizens.

Article 3. The Principles of the State Pension Policy The principles of the state pension policy shall be as follows:

1) ensuring the pension right, irrespective of nationality, race, sex, language, religion, political or other views, social origin, property or other status;

2) ensuring the financial sustainability, equilibrium and development of the state pension system;

3) ensuring social coherence and social justice;

4) ensuring minimal amount of pension guaranteed by the State which are compatible with the minimal consumer budget.

Article 4. State Authorized Body of the Pension System The authorities of the state body of the pension system authorized by the Government of the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter, referred to as an authorized body) are established by a statute.

Article 5. Legal Regulation of the State Pension Security The relationships of the state pension security shall be regulated by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, international treaties, other laws and legal acts of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 6. Financing the Payment of Pension Benefits The pensions identified in this Law shall be payable from the funds of the State budget of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 7. Eligibility for Pension

1. Any individual residing in the Republic of Armenia who meets the conditions specified in this Law shall be eligible for a pension.

2. The individual entitled to receive a pension benefit who has applied to the authorized body in the manner as established by the legislation and has been granted a pension shall be eligible for a pension anticipated in this Law (hereinafter referred to as the pension beneficiary).

3. The individual who is eligible to receive more than one pension financed from the State budget as specified in this Law, as well as other laws, shall be granted one pension at his own discretion.

4. No social pension may be granted to the individual who is entitled to receive an occupational pension as prescribed in this Law.

Article 8. Types of Pensions The below types of pensions are established as per this Law:

1. Occupational:

1) old age,

2) privileged,

3) long service,

4) disability,

5) survivor’s,

6) partial.

2. Military:

1) long-term service,

2) disability,

3) losing the bread winner.

3.Social:

1) old age,

2) disability,

3) survivor’s.

CHAPTER 2. OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS

Article 9. Eligibility for Old Age Pension

1. An old age occupational pension shall be granted to any individual who has reached 63, provided s/he has the following:

1) 25 years of length of service, which is the required length of service, or

2) At least 10 years of length of service, which is the minimum length of service.

During the course of year 2010 women shall be granted pension starting from the age of 62.5, whereas starting from year 2011 they shall be granted pension starting from the age of 63.

2. Until 2015 the minimum length of service empowering an individual to receive an old age pension shall be defined in accordance with the below scale:

3. Before reaching the retirement age specified in Part 1 of this Article 10, females shall be entitled to receive a pension in accordance with the below scale:

4. Any individual with a 35-year’s length of service may retire a year before reaching the age provided such an individual is not employed.

5. The individual entitled to an old age pension may apply for a pension any time at his discretion.

6. The old age pension shall be granted for a life-time period.

Article 10. Eligibility for Privileged Pensions

1. Any individual shall be entitled to a privileged pension who has reached 55 and has a 25-year’s length of service of which 15 years count for employment under particularly dangerous or particularly heavy conditions (List 1), where he or she has been occupied full-time in employment entitling him or her to a privileged pension.

In addition, before reaching the retirement age specified in this clause, females may be eligible for a pension in accordance with the below scale:

and later

2. Any individual who has reached 59 and has a 25-year’s length of service of which 20 years count for employment under dangerous or heavy conditions (List 2), where he or she has been occupied full-time in employment entitling him or her to a privileged pension.

In addition, before reaching the retirement age specified in this clause, females may be eligible for a pension in accordance with the below scale:

and later

3. Individuals suffering from hypophyseal dwarfishness (nanuses) who have a 20-year’s length of service may receive a privileged pension upon reaching 45.

4. Lists 1 and 2 for productions, employments, occupations, positions and indicators entitling to a privileged pension as anticipated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 11. Requirements for Granting of Civil Aviation Employees to Occupational Long Service Pension

1. Long service pension shall be granted to the below employees of civil aviation:

1) members of flight command and air traffic control staff, air crews: upon reaching 45 if the duration of their service is 25 years; individuals who have been released from air service for health reasons may be entitled to a long service pension in their length of service is 20 years;

2) flight operators and stewards: upon reaching 45 if the duration of their service is 25 years; individuals who have been released from air service for health reasons may be entitled to a long service pension in their length of service is 20 years;

3) staff members of air traffic control service who have a dispatcher’s certificate: upon reaching 50 if the duration of their service is 25 years of which 15 years count for employment in the air traffic control service; individuals who have been released from their service in air traffic control system: upon reaching 50 if the duration of their service is 25 years of which 10 years count for their employment in air traffic control service;

4) members of the engineering-technical staff: upon reaching 55 if the duration of their service is 25 years of which 20 years count for occupations entitling to a long service pension.

The list of occupations and positions entitling the individual to a long service pension, and the specifics of calculating the duration of long service shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 12. Requirements for Granting of Disability Occupational Pension

1. The individual who has been recognized as a person with disability by the state authorized body responsible for medical-social expert investigation shall be eligible for a disability pension if:

1) the above individual has been recognized as a person with disability due to an occupational injury or disease, irrespective of his or her length of service;

2) the above individual has been recognized as a person with disability due to a systemic disease, congenial disease, natural, man-made and other disasters provided he or she has earned the following length of service at the time of determining his or her disability:

2. The disability pension shall be granted for the entire period of disability.

3. The provisions of this Article 15 shall also apply to individuals who belong to the category of “child with disability”.

Article 13. Requirements for Survivor’s Occupational Pension The below relatives of the deceased individual shall be eligible for a survivor’s pension:

(a) a child under the age of 18;

(b) brother, sister and grandchild under 18 provided their parents have limited working capacity of a third category;

(c) a disabled person aged 18 or above, provided such a person has been recognized as a disabled before attaining the age of 18 and has limited working capacity of a second or a third category and is unemployed;

(d) parents, spouse who have reached the old retirement age or are recognized as disabled irrespective of their age provided they are unemployed.

(e) spouse or any other capable adult member of the family or a person recognized as custodian in the manner as established by law, regardless of his/her age, provided s/he is engaged in the custody of the deceased breadwinner’s child, brother, sister or grandchild under 14 and is unemployed;

(f) grandparents, provided they are unemployed and have no children or their children have limited working capacity of a third category.

In case of losing the benefactor, persons specified in sub-points “a”, “c” and “d” of point 1 of this Article shall be entitled to survivor’s pension, irrespective of whether or not they were under the custody of the deceased person.

2. Full-time students of educational institutions may be eligible for a survivor’s pension until their graduation from the educational institution but before they reach 23.

3. The survivor’s pension shall be granted for the entire period contemplated in this Article 16.

4. The provisions of this Article 16 shall also apply to the family of the individual recognized as deceased. When granting a survivor’s pension to the family members of the individual recognized as deceased, the effectiveness date of the court order on recognizing the individual deceased or the date identified in the valid court order shall be treated as date of death of the above individual.

5. Survivor’s working pension shall be granted, provided at the moment of his/her death the benefactor had minimum length of service entitling him/her to old age pension as envisaged in Article 9 of this Law.

6. In case of death of a person who was recognized as disabled due to general sickness, child age sickness or due to natural, technical and other accident, his/her family members qualifying for survivor’s pension shall be granted pension, provided such a deceased person at the moment of his/her death possessed required length of service as specified in Article 12 of this Law.

Family members of a deceased person who passed away as a consequence of an accident at work or occupational disease shall qualify for a survivor’s pension, irrespective of the length of service of such a deceased person.

Article 14. Entitlement to Pension after the Death of Adopter, Adoptee, Stepfather (Stepmother) and Stepson (Stepdaughter)

1. The adopter and adoptee shall be entitled to survivor’s pension in the manner as established in Article 13 of this Law. 2. Minor individuals receiving a survivor’s pension shall maintain their eligibility in the event of their adoption.

3. In case of the adopter’s death, the adoptee eligible for a survivor’s pension shall be entitled to choose the type of his or her pension.

4. The stepfather (stepmother) shall be equally entitled to a pension like the father (mother) if he (she) has cared for the deceased stepson or stepdaughter for at least 5 years.

5. The stepson (stepdaughter) shall be entitled to a pension in case of losing the benefactor.

Article 15. Requirements for Partial Pension

1. The following individuals shall be eligible for a partial pension: if they have a 25-year’s length of service or have been duly recorded before the effectiveness of this Law:

1) persons employed in the education sector, certain categories of workers of culture, upon reaching 55 if their length of service in the professional sphere is at least 12 years;

2) certain categories of actors of theatrical and theatrical-concert organizations: upon reaching 50 if their length of service in the professional sphere is at least 12 years.

Partial pension shall be granted also to persons belonging to certain categories as envisaged in this Point, who applied for a partial pension before enforcement of this Law and have professional length of service of at least 12 years and attained the age of partial pension as envisaged in this Law.

2. Professional length of service shall incorporate the time period engaging in professions and positions qualifying for partial pension before August 1, 2003.

3. The lists of positions and types of employment activities which entitle individuals to receive a partial pension shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 16. Calculation of Occupational Pension

1. The amount of the occupational pension is the sum of the basic pension and the occupational portion of the pension benefit.

The occupational portion of the pension benefit shall constitute the supplementary amount for the service years which shall be calculated based on the number of service years and yearly service value, taking into account the retiree’s individual coefficient.

The occupational pension shall be calculated based on the following formula:

P=B+ (á X V) X C, where:

P is the monthly pension amount, B is the basic pension amount;

á is the years of service;

V is the yearly service value;

C is the retiree’s individual coefficient.

2. The basis for calculating the individual coefficient of a pensioner is the required length of service.

The individual coefficient of retirees with a 25-year’s and less length of service shall be calculated by using the C=0.04 X á formula. For retirees with a length of service exceeding 25 years the individual coefficient shall be calculated based on the C=1+0.02 X (á-25).

3. When granting old age pensions to individuals born on and after January 1, 1970, only the period of engaging in employment and other activities not prohibited by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia shall be counted.

4. When calculating the occupational disability pension, the size of the basic pension shall equal to:

1) for the first severity group: 140 percent of the basic pension;

2) for the second severity group: 120 percent of the basic pension;

3) for the third severity group: 100 percent of the basic pension.

5. A survivor’s occupational pension at the amount of the basic pension shall be granted to each of the family members by adding the occupational portion of the deceased provider’s calculated pension at the below amounts:

1) 50 percent to one survivor;

2) 90 percent to two survivors;

3) 120 percent to three survivors;

4) 150 percent to four and more survivors.

For each parentless child a pension shall be granted by adding to the five-fold amount of the basic pension the occupational portion of pension calculated for each parent at the proportions specified in part 5 of this Article 20.

Article 17. Size of Basic Pension and Yearly Service Value The yearly value of the length of service shall be determined on an annual basis in the State Budget Law of the Republic of Armenia based on the requirement of Parts 2 of this Article.

The size of the official basic pension and yearly service value may not be less than the formerly established size of the basic pension and yearly service value.

2. From January 1 of each year the size of the basic pension and yearly service value shall be adjusted based on the consumer price index.

3. The consumer price index shall be calculated in conformity with the procedure established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

CHAPTER 3. MILITARY PENSIONS

Article 18. Eligibility for a Military Pension The following persons shall be eligible for a military pension:

1) Commanders and ordinary staff of the executive bodies (hereinafter referred to as respective body) of the system of Republic of Armenia defense, police, national security or emergency situations and civil defense (rescue service of Armenia);

2) Persons called for military exercises and participants of military operations of the Republic of Armenia;

3) Persons serving in the penitentiary institutions and the enforcers of judicial acts, functioning under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 19. Requirements for Granting of a Military Pension to a Person With a Long Service Record with the Military

1. A military pension for long service shall be granted to the following military servants, who in the manner and timelines specified in respective laws regulating the service in the respective bodies, penitentiary institutions and the court act enforcement services (hereinafter, referred to as militant):

1) At the moment of retiring from the service have accrued at least 20 years of service with the military;

2) At the moment of retiring from the military because of old age, health conditions or reduction of the occupied position attained maximum age, in the manner as envisaged by law and possessed length of service of at least 25 years, out of which 8 years count towards a military service.

2. A military servant shall be granted pension in case of retiring from service in a due manner.

Article 20. Procedure of Calculation of Military Pension Granted for Long Service

1. Military pension for long service granted to a military servant shall be calculated in the following manner:

a) For a military servant as specified in point 1, sub-point 1 of Article 19 of this Law - 70% of the monthly compensation given for living and for food. For each year exceeding the 20 years of service in the military the amount of long service pension shall be supplemented by an additional 2% of the amount of living and food and 1% of such amount for each full year of service in a non-military service accrued before joining the military service;

b) For a military servant as specified in point 1, sub-point 2 of Article 19 of this Law - 65% of the monthly compensation paid for living and for food. For each year exceeding 8 years of military service the amount of long service pension shall be supplemented by an additional 1% of the compensation paid for living and for food, however not exceeding 5% of such an amount. For each year exceeding the 25 years of service in the military and other activities the amount of long service pension shall be supplemented by an additional 2% of the compensation paid for living and for food and 1% of such amount for each full year of a non-military service.

2. Amount of military pension shall not exceed the monthly compensation paid for living and for food.

3. Military pension for long service shall be granted for life.

4. Supplementary amount shall be paid in addition to the monthly salary of a person qualifying for military pension for long service, who however continues his/her military service in the manner defined by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 21. Requirements for Granting of Disability Military Pension

1. Disability military pension shall be granted to a military servant recognized as disabled by the competent state body responsible for conducting medical-social examination, who got disability during the course of military service or within one year after retiring in a due manner, however as a consequence of the sickness when still in service or afterwards, but still such a sickness originated when in service.

2. The disability military pension shall be granted irrespective of the length of the military service.

Article 22. Manner of Calculating the Disability Military Pension

Amount of monthly Disability Military Pension shall be calculated in the following manner:

1) For a person with a first category of disability - 70% of the monthly compensation paid for living and for food. However, such an amount should not be less than 200% of basic pension as defined by legislation;

2) For a person with a second category of disability - 60% of the monthly compensation given for living and for food. However, such an amount should not be less than 150% of basic pension as defined by legislation;

3) For a person with a third category of disability - 40% of the monthly compensation given for living and for food. However, such an amount should not be less than the amount of basic pension as defined by legislation.

The amount of disability military pension of an ordinary military servant on a mandatory military service shall comprise double of the minimal pension amount as defined in this Article.

Article 23. Granting of Survivor’s Military Pension

1. Survivor’s military pension shall be granted to family members of a deceased military servant in the manner defined by Articles 13 and 14 of this Law.

2. Survivor’s military pension shall be granted to family members of the deceased military servant irrespective of the reasons of such military servant’s death and the period that elapsed.

3. Provisions of this Article shall apply to the following persons:

1) Family members of a military servant having retired from service in a defined manner and deceased afterwards, irrespective of the time period that elapsed, however the cause of death being an injury, disability or sickness that the person got during the course of the service;

2) Family members of a military servant, who during the course of performing his/her military service obligations, has been recognized as missing or absent or deceased in the manner as envisaged by legislation.

4. Family members of a deceased military servant shall be entitled to a military pension in case of losing the benefactor, irrespective of the length of service of the deceased military servant.

5. In case of losing the benefactor a military pension shall be granted also to family members of a deceased military servant duly retired from service and qualifying for a pension, who however failed to apply for pension and was deceased within six months of duly retiring.

6. A family member entitled to survivor’s military person, who also has or obtains entitlement to an occupational or social pension, shall be granted an occupational or social pension rather than a military pension and such a pension shall be supplemented by a pension or supplemental amount calculated in the manner as envisaged in Article 24 and point 1, sub-point 7 of Article 26.

The procedure of giving supplemental pension shall be defined by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 24. Manner of Calculating the Survivor’s Military Pension

Survivor’s military pension shall be calculated in the following manner:

1) For each child having lost his/her parent – 40% of salary and food compensation paid to the deceased benefactor, however such an amount should not be less than the basic pension as envisaged by legislation;

2) For each child having lost his/her parents – 60% of salary and food compensation paid to the deceased benefactor, however such an amount should not be less than 200 fold of the basic pension as envisaged by legislation;

3) For each of the other family member specified in Article 13 of this Law - 30% of salary and food compensation paid to the deceased benefactor, however such an amount should not be less than the basic pension as envisaged by legislation.

Survivor’s military pension of family members of an ordinary military servant within the mandatory service period shall comprise double of minimum pension amount as defined in this Article.

Article 25. Manner of Determining Monthly Allowance

1. When granting pension to a military servant the monthly allowance defined for his/her last position and the amount of compensation paid for food shall be taken as a basis for calculations.

2. The list of sums calculated as an allowance shall be defined by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 26. Amounts Supplemented to Military Pension and their Size

1. A military pension shall be supplemented by an additional sum:

1) to a military servant, who became disabled during a war or in service – minimum disability pension amount calculated in the manner as envisaged in Article 22 of this Law, by taking into consideration the category of disability;

2) For participation in World War II, defense of the Republic of Armenia and military operations in other countries – 60% of basic pension as defined by legislation of the Republic of Armenia;

3) To a pensioner having dependents as defined in Article 13, points “a”, “b’ and “c” as well as dependents as envisaged by law – 30% of basic pension to each dependent;

4) To a person with a first category of disability – 60% of the basic pension, whereas for a person with a second category of disability, as well as a pensioner, who is 70 years and above – 40% of the basic person;

5) To a hero of the Republic of Armenia, USSR hero, honorary awards, three category of glory medals – in the amount of the basic pension;

6) To an ordinary military servant, who became disabled in the course of participating in military operations for defense of the Republic of Armenia or during the course of service – 80% of pension calculated in the manner as provided in Article 22 of this Law;

7) To the family member of an ordinary military servant, who became disabled when participating in military operations for defense of the Republic of Armenia or during the course of service – 80% of pension calculated in the manner as provided in Article 24 of this Law.

2. Supplemental amounts provided in point 1 of this Article may be calculated simultaneously, except for those provided in sub-points 1 and 2. However, the total amount should not exceed 8 fold of the basic pension.

CHAPTER 4. SOCIAL PENSIONS

Article 27. Requirements for Granting of Old Age Social Pension

1. An old age social pension shall be granted to a person having attained the age of 65 and not qualifying for an employment pension.

2. A person entitled to old age pension may any time at his/her discretion apply for assigning of a pension.

3. An old age social pension shall be granted for life.

Article 28. Eligibility for Disability Social Pension

1. Any disabled individual who does not qualify for a disability employment pension as provided in Article 12 of this Law, as well as a person who has been recognized as a “child with disability” shall be eligible for receiving a disability social pension.

2. The disability social pension shall be granted for the entire period of disability.

Article 29. Requirements for Survivor’s Social Pension

1. Individuals who are not eligible for a survivor’s occupational pension shall be granted a survivor’s social pension.

2.

The survivor’s social pension shall be granted in the manner stipulated in Articles 13 and 14 of this Law. The provisions of the above articles shall also apply to those children left without a parental care whose parents are unknown.

Article 30. Size of Social Pension

1. The size of the old age social pension shall constitute 100 percent of the basic pension.

2. The disability social pension shall equal to:

1) for persons and children belonging to the first severity group – 140 percent of the old-age social pension;

2) for persons belonging to the second severity group – 120 percent of the old-age social pension;

3) for persons belonging to the third severity group – 100 percent of the old-age social pension.

3. The size of the survivor’s social pension granted to each member of the family shall constitute 100 percent of the old-age social pension.

For each child having lost both parents the survivor’s social pension shall equal to the five-fold amount of the old-age social pension.

CHAPTER 5. DATABASE OF THE STATE PENSION SECURITY SYSTEM

Article 31. Purpose of Creating Database of the State Pension Security System

The purpose of creating the database of the state pension security system (hereinafter referred to as the database) shall be to ensure the implementation of the individual’s right to pension security.

Article 32. Data Incorporated in the Database

1. The database shall contain:

1) the below data about individuals, as well as pensioners:

a) number of the social security card or the proof certifying its absence, TIN (if available);

b) first, middle and last names, day, month and year of birth, day, month and year of death if the individual is deceased;

c) sex;

d) address of registration and (or) actual residence;

e) serial and successive passport number of the citizen of the Republic of Armenia (if the person is under 16 – the birth certificate data), serial and successive number of the residency card of the foreign citizen and stateless person;

f) citizenship;

g) information about the periods of other legally prescribed activities treated as part of the length of service;

2) in respect of hired employees:

a) day, month and year of recruitment and dismissal;

b) identification data of documents supporting the employment arrangements (contract, order, etc.), occupation (position), period of employment activity entitling the individual to a privileged pension;

c) identification data of the employer(s), TIN, full name, location and the state registration address, day, month, year and number of state registration;

d) size of income subject to taxation by income tax, and amount of paid income tax broken down by employers and months;

3) in respect of sole entrepreneur, also:

a) taxpayer identification number, day, month and year of state registration, day, month and year of closing the business,

b) day, month and year of suspending the business activity (temporarily handing the state registration certificate to the tax body) and re-launching the business activity (receiving back the state registration certificate from the tax body),

c) size of income subject to taxation by income tax, and amount of paid income tax (or any other tax or fee substituting the income tax),

4) in respect of notaries, also:

a) day, month and year of appointment and dismissal,

b) size of income subject to taxation by income tax, and amount of paid income tax, day, month and year of tax payment;

5) in case of gaining income from performing works, delivering of services performed within the framework of civil-legal relationships – also the time period of receiving income, the size of income gained from a unified tax object, amount of unified tax calculated and paid, day, month and year of tax payment;

6) for license fee payers, also - day, month and year of registration with the tax authority, the time period of license fee payment.

2. The database shall also include information about the day, month, year of granting pensions to retirees, size of pensions, as well as data on retirees as specified by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 30. Creating and Maintaining the Database

1. The database shall be created on the basis of the data received from the tax body, as well as the data provided by citizens for pension assignment to the unit of the authorized body in charge of granting pensions (hereinafter referred to as the unit granting pensions).

2. The database shall be operated by the authorized body.

3. The procedure for creating and maintaining the database, the data received from the tax body as identified in Part 1, Article 32 of this Law shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

4. The data contained in the database shall be protected as prescribed by law.

CHAPTER 6. MANNER OF CALCULATION OF LENGTH OF SERVICE

Article 34. Length of Service and Time-Periods Treated as Part of Length of Service

1. The length of service shall constitute the duly approved aggregate of periods of employment activity and other activities not prohibited by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

2. The following shall be included in the length of service:

1) the period during which the individual has entered into employment arrangements with employers (has performed hired work) and generated income as a result of execution of civil-legal contracts;

2) the period during which the individual has acted as a sole entrepreneur or worked in the capacity of a notary or during the period of paying licensed fee;

3) the period of military service as provided in Article 36, point 1, sub-points “a” and “b” of this Law (with the exception of studying at education institutions);

4) the entire period of disability if the individual has been recognized as a person with disability and has 3rd degree incapability due to an occupational injury or disease, until the individual reaches the retirement age;

3. Where the individual has earned the length of service necessary for granting a pension, the following shall also be treated as part of his or her service:

1) the period of receiving unemployment benefit;

2) the period during which any of the parents (adopters, custodians) has taken care of his or her disabled child until such a child reaches the age of 18, or the period during which an individual recognized as a custodian has taken care of a person with a third degree of working incapacity where such a period shall not exceed ten years;

3) the period during which any of the parents (adopters) has taken care of each of his or her child until such a child reaches the age of two, provided the above period shall not exceed six years;

4) the period of cohabitation with one’s spouse who has worked as a member of the officer or corporal staff, military servant of additional service in places where such a person has been unable to find a job suitable for his or her occupation, provided the above period shall not exceed five years;

5) the period of cohabitation with one’s spouse who has been commissioned to a diplomatic service of a diplomatic mission of the Republic of Armenia in a foreign state, provided the above period shall not exceed five years;

6) the period of full-time study at an educational institution, provided the above period shall not exceed six years.

7) periods of arrest, imprisonment and banishment of persons subjected to repression, groundless conviction and later duly acquitted – three fold starting from 14 years of age;

8) time periods provided in Article 36, point 2, sub-point 1 of this law – three fold.

4. The Government of the Republic of Armenia shall define the manner and requirements for calculating of the length of service (including, performing of civil-legal agreements, time periods of paying taxes for working as a notary, paying of license fees), incorporation of time periods of performing employment or other activities therein and approving the length of service.

5. If it is impossible to obtain documents certifying length of service due to wars, military operations, natural disasters, accidents, catastrophes and other emergency situations, the Government of the Republic of Armenia shall establish committees defining length of service with the membership composition of representatives of executive authorities, employers, trade unions or other representatives of employees.

Article 35. Time Periods Calculated Towards the Length of Service of Civil Aviation Employees and Peculiarities of its Calculation The periods of long service of members of the civil aviation air command, air traffic control staff and air crews shall be calculated in following manner:

1) every 20 hours of flights by a piston-engine airplane shall be treated as a one-month’s service;

2) every 12 hours of flights by jet planes, helicopters, special aircrafts (sanitary flights, air-chemical works, air photography, patrol, atmospheric probing, etc.) work as members of air command, air traffic control staff and air crews of escort groups accompanying aircrafts of other states, as well as flights performed during a study at higher and secondary educational institutions for training and qualification training of members of aviation air crews shall be treated a one-month’s service;

3) one year’s service of air crews in emergency-rescue (search-rescue) units shall be treated as a year and a half’s service;

4) one year’s service in the capacity of a member of air crews of educational and sport aviation organizations of DOSAAF (Voluntary Sport Union of Support to Army and Navy) shall be treated as a year and a half’s service - provided the academic-flight training plan is executed – and as a two-year’s service if complex or extreme flight maneuvers have been performed;

5) one year’s service of parachutists and rescuers shall the treated as a year and a half’s service if the annual plan for flights from pistol-engine airplanes, helicopters, airships and balloons, landings through special devices from helicopters suspended at the height of at least ten meters has been executed, and it shall be treated as two years’ service if the annual plan for flights by airplanes and helicopters has been executed.

2. Failure to meet the requirements necessary for entitlement to calculation of privilenged length of service as envisaged in points 1, sub-points 4 and 5 of this Article will result in calculating one year service as a one year length of service.

Article 36. Time Periods Calculated Towards a Length of Military Service and Peculiarities of its Calculation

1. For the purposes of granting long service military pension to military servants the below periods shall be calculated as length of service:

a) Service in ordinary or commandant positions with the systems of Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, The Police under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, National Security Service under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, as well as time periods of studying at education institutions within such systems, irrespective of possessing military or other ranks;

b) Military service in USSR military forces, USSR State Security Committee and USSR Interior Ministry systems, as well as time periods of studying at education institutions within such systems, irrespective of availability of military or other ranks;

c) periods of arrest, imprisonment and banishment of military servants subjected to repression, groundless conviction and later duly acquitted due to absence of any evidence that the person concerned committed the crime.

2. In case of availability of long-term length of military service required for granting of long-term service pension to military servants the following shall be calculated towards length of service in military:

1) Three fold:

a) Time periods of service in the army, units or groups during military operations;

b) Time period of participation in military operations during the defense of the Republic of Armenia or military service not within the territory of the Republic of Armenia in case of performing a special military order;

c) Participation by military servants in works related to elimination of consequences of Chernobil nuclear power station catastrophe during the period of April 1986 through December 31, 1987;

d) periods of arrest, imprisonment and banishment of military servants subjected to repression, groundless conviction and later duly acquitted due to absence of any evidence that the person concerned committed the crime.

2) Two fold:

a) Service of military aircraft pilots, in case of performing annual flight norms;

b) Time period of being in hostage, provided the military servant did not voluntarily surrender as a hostage and did not commit a crime against the Republic of Armenia during the period of in a hostage;

c) From the period of January 1, 1961 through December 31, 1982 business trips performed by military specialists (except for pilots) to such countries, whose armies were engaged in military operations or provided military assistance to other countries;

d) Military service in high mountain areas, starting from January 1, 1976 – 2500 meters above the sea level and more and from August 11, 1997 – 2000 meters above the sea level and higher.

3) One and a half fold:

a) Parachute service – in case of complying with the annual flight norms as defined by respective authorities;

b) Service of women in special military divisions, as per list of positions as defined by respective authorities;

c) Military service in territories in an emergency situation;

d) Military service in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia from the period of February 1, 1992 through May 1, 1994;

e) Mountainous areas starting from April 1, 1973 – 1500 meters above the sea level and above, and from November 30, 1998 – 1700 – 2000 meters above the sea level;

f) Participation by military servants in works related to elimination of consequences of Chernobil nuclear power station catastrophe during the period of January 1, 1988 through December 1, 1990;

g) Military service in division “A” of the state body authorized in National Security system;

4) One month of other activities provided it counts towards a month of military service:

a) Before serving in the military aircraft and engineering employment service with DOSAAF (Voluntary Sport Union of Support to Army and Navy);

b) Time period when the military officers’ studied under the order issued by Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia in Master programs in higher education institutions of the Republic of Armenia, following which such persons were drafted to the Armed forces of the Republic of Armenia, were awarded with an officer’s rank and served within a period of no less than 5 years;

5) One year of other activities, provided such activities count as 6 months of military service:

a) Up to 5 years of studying in higher educational institutions of officers’ reserve staff before being drafted to the military service;

b) Time period when the military servants studied under the order issued by Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia in higher education institutions of the Republic of Armenia, following which such military servants were drafted to the Armed forces of the Republic of Armenia, were awarded with an officer’s rank and held the officer’s position within a period of no less than 5 years.

Persons participating in operations of defense of the Republic of Armenia shall be awarded with a status of a participant in military operations in the manner established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

3. For the purposes of granting long service pension in military, the procedure of calculating of the total calendar length of service in military and the privileged calculation of the military service period, as well as the list of other types of activities, the manner and requirements for calculation shall be defined by Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 37. Documents Certifying Length of Service and Manner of Recording Length of Service

1. For the periods recorded before January 1, 2010 the main document certifying the length of service shall be the service record book, and starting January, 1992 through January 1, 2004 also the payments of social contributions or the document certifying the receipt of salary and starting from January 1, 2004 also the data available in the information database of the state pension security system shall also serve as an evidence of the length of service.

2. For the period following January 1, 2004 the length of service shall be validated based on the data included in the database as specified in Chapter 5 of this Law.

3. In the absence of the service record book or the respective records thereof or other legally prescribed documents reflecting the length of service, an archive proof shall serve as a basis for validating the length of service. In the absence of such a proof, the length of service shall be validated in the court order.

4. The length of service shall be recorded in years and calculated by dividing the number of months of the aggregate period by 12.

5. For each calendar year the length of service may not exceed one year, other than the cases identified by this Law.

CHAPTER 7. GRANTING AND PAYING PENSIONS

Article 38. Granting Pensions

1. A pension shall be granted based on the written application of the citizen by the unit granting pensions in accordance with his or her place of registration in the Republic of Armenia. For individuals who have no place of registration, the pension shall be granted based on his or her place of factual residence.

A military pension shall be granted by the social security unit of the respective body.

The date of accepting the application on granting a pension by the unit granting pensions shall be treated as the date of granting the pension. The application shall be submitted along with all documents necessary for granting a pension.

2. Where the package of documents attached to the application is incomplete the unit granting pensions shall accept the application and notify the applicant in writing about the documents which need to be submitted.

3. If the above application is delivered by mail along with the attached necessary documents, then the date indicated on the stamp of the post office where the application has been sent.

4. If all necessary documents are submitted within three months after the receipt of the notice, the date of accepting the application on granting a pension or the date indicated in the stamp of the post office shall be treated as the date of application. Within ten working days after accepting the application on granting the unit granting pensions shall review the mentioned documents and take a decision on granting or rejecting a pension.

4. In the event of taking a decision on rejecting the application the unit granting pensions shall send a written notice to the applicant within five working days along with indicating the reason for rejection, the procedure for appealing the decision, and return all documents to the applicant.

5. The list of documents necessary for granting pensions, the procedure for filing applications on granting (recalculating) pensions, changing their types, paying pensions and maintaining pension files shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 39. Timing for Granting Pension 1The pension shall be granted:

1) from the day of submitting the application;

2) from the day the state competent body conducting expert medical-social investigation recognizes the individual as a person with disability, if the application on granting a pension has been filed within three months after such a day;

3) from the day of death of the provider, if the application on granting a pension has been filed within six months after such a day;

4) from the day of retiring from military service, provided the military servant retired from his/her service in a due manner and submitted the application within six months after retiring.

Article 40. Paying of a Disability Pension

1. Disability pension shall be paid for the period of the disability.

2. In case of changing the disability group the new pension shall be paid starting from the first day of the month following occurrence of that event.

3. In case a person is recognized as disabled by a medical-social examination, the pension shall be paid through the end of the month when the disability is lifted.

4. If within three months upon expiry of disability the person undergoes another expert examination and is again recognized as disabled, paying of pension shall be commenced from the date it was suspended. In the event the expert examination recognizes the person as disabled the same amount of pension shall be paid to that person.

5. Provisions of this Article shall apply also to a person recognized as “a disabled child”.

Article 41. Paying of Survivor’s Pension

1. In case of losing the bread winner the survivor’s pension shall be paid to a capable person or one of the minors, who is entitled by law to dispose of his/her income or to the guardian.

2. The pension amount shall be changed or paying of pension to family members shall be terminated starting from the first day of the month following expiry of entitlement to survivor’s pension.

3. In case of losing the benefactor all family members entitled to a survivor’s pension shall receive a joint pension.

At the request of a family member his/her portion of survivor’s pension shall be paid to him/her separately, starting from the first day of the month following submission of an application on separate payment of the survivor’s pension.

4. In case of changes in the number of family members entitled to survivor’s pension the amount of the pension shall be respectively adjusted starting…