As part of a working visit to Kaliningrad Region, the Chairman of the Social Fund, Sergey Chirkov, met the regional Governor, Aleksey Besprozvannykh. Their negotiations resulted in the signing of a cooperation agreement that will outline their joint work across a wide range of social policy areas.
During the meeting, Sergey Chirkov praised the positive effect of transferring regional powers to the federal level. According to Head of the Social Fund, in recent years, a number of welfare measures have already come under the jurisdiction of the Fund, which has the required competencies and technical capabilities.
"Starting this year, the powers to pay the regional social pension supplement, including in Kaliningrad Region, have been transferred to the Fund. Other welfare measures are to follow. After merging the funds, we introduced common standards and payment timeframes, making the system more transparent and convenient for citizens. "Support from the regional authorities is extremely important to us in order to implement those plans successfully, and this agreement will become the foundation for that," emphasized Sergey Chirkov.
As the Chairman of the Fund pointed out, the Government of the Russian Federation has prepared a draft law providing for the possibility for Russian regions to transfer provision of certain welfare measures to the Social Fund, including regional maternity capital, allowances for veterans of labour, and travel expense compensations for school and university students. The initiative simplifies the application procedure for such benefits. It allows people to find out about eligible services faster and have them assigned proactively, without any paperwork or applications.
"The agreement will strengthen our interactions to increase the efficiency and quality of welfare services delivery," said Governor Besprozvannykh. "My decisions are based on feedback from the locals. One of the most popular proposals from Kaliningrad residents is to optimize the process of applying for payouts and allowances so that they are transferred either with no applications or subject to a minimum document package. I consider transitioning social support measures into a proactive delivery format to be one of our key joint tasks."
The parties also discussed new social projects aimed at improving the quality of life for the elderly generation. Issues of socialization for elderly people and setting up conditions for their active longevity in the region were a point of special focus.
The agreement provides not only for the joint handling of current issues, but also for joint events and the exchange of analytical and statistical information. Enforcing its provisions will also help improve the interagency cooperation, thus enhancing the quality and accessibility of pension and social security for the residents of Kaliningrad Region.