Breaking with the party line, Magadan's acting governor wants his constituents exempted from Russia's pension reforms

Magadan Acting Governor Sergey Nosov says he will urge the government not to raise the retirement age for people living in his region, where locals enjoy early retirement privileges as “residents of the Far North.”

Nosov is a member of the Supreme Council of the country’s ruling political party, United Russia, which has forbidden its members from criticizing the pension reform proposal because it was drafted by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who heads the party.

Starting next year, the reforms would take effect gradually, raising the retirement age for men from 60 to 65 by 2028 and from 55 to 63 for women by 2034. The reforms would start as soon as next year. The proposal includes many exceptions, however. For example, the retirement age in Russia’s Far North (Magadan, Yakutia, Chukotka, Tuva, Kamchatka, and other areas) would jump from 55 to 60 for men and from 50 to 58 for women. The same applies to indigenous peoples in the north and the families of killed cosmonauts and soldiers.