The Seimas will consider the proposal to allow withdrawal from pension funds and recovery of paid contributions – Respublika.lt

On Thursday, 54 members of the Seimas voted in favor of the amendments to the law submitted by Ligita Girskienė, a member of the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union (LVŽS) faction of the Seimas, after submission, 29 were against, 13 MPs abstained.

The project will be taken up by the committees of the Seimas in the near future, and it will return to the plenary hall on June 20. The Seimas also decided to request the Government’s conclusion on amendments to the Pension Accumulation Law.

Presenting the project, Seimas member L. Girskienė said that currently residents have “become hostages of private organizations, that is, pension funds”, which, according to her, treat their money irresponsibly.

According to the parliamentarian, people who have saved money for old age will receive modest benefits.

“I calculated that e.g. 20 thousand a person who has saved up 83 euros would receive about 83 euros every month when he reaches old age,” said L. Girskienė.

Member of the Seimas Laima Nagienė asked how the proposed amendments to the law are compatible with the position of the Constitutional Court (CT) that it is possible to terminate accumulation in pension funds if there are important reasons.

“I didn’t say there had to be good reasons. I think that the residents could terminate the pension accumulation contract even in the absence of important reasons”, said L. Girskienė.

Parliamentarian L. Girskienė also proposed to establish in the law that the participant of pension funds has the right not to be included in the accumulation of pensions, if he submits a request in the prescribed form to the State Social Insurance Fund (VSDF).

It proposes that the amendments to the law enter into force in 2025. July 1

ELTA has already announced that the Constitutional Court (CT) decided that the limited possibility to withdraw from pension accumulation funds in the Pension Accumulation Law violates the Constitution. At that time, according to the institution, different types of payments based on the amount of accumulated assets do not violate the main law.

The right to funds accumulated in pension funds, according to the CT, is related to the protection of his property rights, therefore the existing regulation has no basis.

The CT found that the possibility for people to terminate the pension accumulation contract for important reasons, which is currently not provided for in the law, is contrary to the Constitution. In the opinion of KT, this restricts the ownership rights of the pension fund participant.

After the decision of the Constitutional Court, the Social Democrats proposed to allow withdrawal of funds accumulated in pension funds for important reasons.

With the registered amendments to the Law on Pension Accumulation, they propose to give the participants of the second-tier pension the opportunity to receive a benefit if they themselves or their family members fall ill with a serious illness, as well as in the event of the death of a loved one, disability or loss of working capacity, dentures if necessary, as well as in the event of a natural disaster, loss of housing owned by the right of ownership and similar cases.