Investing assets of a Single Accumulative Pension Fund: legal issues and international experience

This article highlights the world experience of the pension system and social protection of citizens, social policy in the transition period to a market economy, in addition, having pension systems and the main directions for their development, the main demographic factors affecting the pension system. It also describes the reforms carried out in recent years in the Republic of Uzbekistan, benefits provided to pensioners, and current problems of the pension system, as well as substantiated proposals for improving pension legislation. KEY WORDS: old-age pension, pension system, pension, social protection, benefits, social assistance, pension fund.

The article offers a comprehensive overview of academic views on the strategy and issues of the legal regulation of the Soviet state standardisation system as it formed and evolved. The USSR had a ramified system of legislative acts and codes of practice that thoroughly governed all aspects of quality and safety assurance across all stages of the product lifecycle. They were collectively known as the state system of standardisation. Yet at the turn of the 21st century, this system was largely dismantled under the influence of economic liberalisation ideas, and its underlying documents lost their binding nature. Russia is currently phasing out of the so-called “market romanticism” period shaped by the idea of minimal state interference in the economy, when any imperative provisions of public law specific to the economy were perceived as administrative hurdles. We are witnessing the emergence of a new mechanism of state control over the Russian economy – one based on the principles of the optimisation of state regulation of economic activity. One of the manifestations of this process involves rebuilding the Russian standardisation system on a new footing. Making this process more effective calls for revisiting the Soviet experience and exploring both its strengths and pitfalls. The article looks into the origins of standardisation in Russia, the key milestones in the history of Soviet standardisation, and the relevant legal regulation. Particular attention is devoted to how state standardisation institutions were established and how changes in the system of state agencies having jurisdiction over the matters of standardisation have influenced the efficiency of this system. The distinguishing features of the Soviet standardisation system, compared to those of other countries, are identified for each stage of system formation and evolution. A fair amount of attention is given to an analysis of the Soviet paradigm of state regulation of the economy, as well as its historical and ideological underpinnings and key aspects. The way standardisation has been influenced by this paradigm, along with other paradigms implemented in Russia in recent decades, is analysed. Correlations are drawn between specific aspects of the Soviet paradigm of state administration of the economy, legal issues of standardisation in the USSR and issues of Russian standardisation. The study was undertaken to explore the idiosyncrasies of the Soviet standardisation system attributable to the specifics of the entire economic, administrative, and legal system and ideology of the USSR. This will help identify the positive aspects of this system that were undeservedly discarded upon the transition to the new economic conditions, along with the unresolved legal issues that stand in the way of an effective standardisation system in the Russian Federation. The study explores standardisation issues through a systemic and structural analysis of Soviet standardisation laws in conjunction with Russian and international legislation and practices. It incorporates a critical review of the major findings of academic and analytical studies focusing on standardisation issues. The study calls for an integrated approach that is indispensable to exploring the conditions under which the Soviet standardisation system formed and evolved in conjunction with changes in the academic community’s perception of the legal nature of standards. A comparative law study of international experiences concerned with the regulation of standardisation issues primarily focuses on the legislation of the biggest economies. This made it possible to draw a general correlation between the evolutionary trends and specifics of the Soviet standardisation system and the corresponding systems in these countries. The legalistic, systemic and structural, comparative law, and historical law methods of study helped determine the optimal course for legislative improvements in this field.

The article is dedicated to the study of social standards and social guarantees in Ukraine, their evolution, current state, and prospects for development in the context of European integration processes. Social standards play an important role in ensuring social justice, equal opportunities, and a decent standard of living for citizens. They regulate basic social rights, including access to healthcare, education, pension provision, and social insurance. At the same time, social guarantees serve as mechanisms for the practical implementation of these standards, providing citizens with access to essential social goods and services. The article examines the evolution of social standards in an international context, starting from the mid-20th century when international organizations such as the UN and the ILO began actively implementing social norms that became the foundation for modern social protection standards. Special attention is given to the influence of European social standards, particularly the European Social Charter, on Ukraine’s national legislation, and key aspects of the implementation of these standards in the national social protection system are analyzed. A particularly important topic is the issue of financing social standards and the effectiveness of their implementation in Ukraine. The problems of insufficient funding for social programs, the uneven distribution of social services between regions, corruption, and inefficient management of state resources are highlighted. Based on the analysis of the experience of European Union countries, solutions to these problems are proposed, including the introduction of digital technologies for monitoring and controlling the provision of social assistance, which can improve the targeting of social payments and reduce corruption risks. Pension system reform is another important component of the development of social standards in Ukraine. The article provides a detailed analysis of the prospects for the implementation of a funded pension system, which will reduce the burden on the state budget and ensure a more efficient distribution of pension resources among citizens. The introduction of individual pension accounts and additional pension savings will help ensure the stability of the pension system in the long term. The article also highlights the role of international organizations and their influence on the development of social standards in Ukraine. The activities of organizations such as the European Union, the International Labour Organization, and others are analyzed, which, through their programs, contribute to the development of national social policies and the improvement of the level of social guarantees for the citizens of Ukraine. Special attention is paid to the harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with European social standards. The authors of the article emphasize that the implementation of European norms and standards in the field of social protection will promote Ukraine’s further integration into the European community. This, in turn, will improve the standard of living for citizens, ensure the fair distribution of social benefits, and create a sustainable social protection system that meets the best European practices. The article concludes with recommendations for comprehensive reforms to Ukraine’s social system aimed at improving social standards and guarantees, taking into account international experience and the realities of the Ukrainian economy. The recommendations focus on the further development of the pension system, improvement of targeted social assistance, and modernization of healthcare. The authors stress the importance of coordinated actions between state institutions, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to ensure a high level of social protection and a decent quality of life for all Ukrainian citizens.

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to scientifically and critically comprehend the experience of European countries in overcoming the COVID-19 consequences and, on its basis, to construct an optimal model of modern anti-crisis legal regulation.Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors constructed the anti-crisis legal regulation model and studied using the systematic scientific approach and the method of analysis and programming to reconstruct typical patterns of social relations, basing on knowledge about the regulation object and using legal tools and techniques.Through the methods of modeling and reconstruction the authors could develop and substantiate the anti-crisis model structure.In order to determine the national characteristics of the subject, the authors used the comparative legal method as well as statistical, system-structural and functional methods.Findings: As a result of the study, the authors made the conclusions about the essence of the crisis impact caused by the COVID-19 on the mechanism of legal regulation, about the features and principles of anti-crisis legal regulation, in particular, its subject, method, goals and tasks, and means of legal influence.The authors determined the conditionality of the anti-crisis legal regulation model by the initial legal principle underlying it, and the national legal awareness features.The authors prove that total restrictions make the population to overstep law, thereby reduce the authority of the law and trust in the legal bodies, deform legal awareness, violate existing legal relations and relationships.Practical Implications: The results of the study, based on a wide range of empirical data, are necessary for the development of state programs for the business normalization and the economy recovery, as well as for the formation of national strategies for anti-crisis legal regulation and guidelines, recommendations and clear procedures for the public emergency introduction.In particular, the authors proposed to use political and legal programming as a method of legal regulation in a crisis.Originality/Value: The novelty of the article is to develop the structure, models and features of anti-crisis legal regulation in COVID-19 pandemic conditions on the analysis and generalization of the experience of some European countries.The study proves the low

The article deals with the provision of pension guarantees in voluntary pension systems. The importance of guarantees is due to the increasing role of non-state pension systems in international practice. World experience shows that problems within the framework of voluntary pension schemes are largely related to the issue of trust in the pension system. Solving the latter is interrelated with the necessity of consideration of guarantees. The article analyzes the pension guarantees in the legislation of different countries in order to identify opportunities to use international experience in legal regulation for the development of the pension system in the Russian Federation. The paper describes the fiduciary standards in voluntary pension schemes in different countries, as well as the principles of the OECD in financial protection of pension plan participants, implemented in the national legislation of the countries. The issue of investment return guarantees is particularly important in the context of voluntary pension schemes with defined contributions. The analysis helps to identify that Russia needs an introduction of legal frameworks of guarantees regulation to increase the number of participants in the voluntary pension system. The guarantee in voluntary pension schemes will be critical if the automatic enrollment mechanism is introduced in the Russian Federation as part of the system of individual pension capital. In particular, an important point is the introduction of a system of guarantees for participants’ rights as a concept in the Russian private pension system, as well as the implementation of basic legal principles and characteristics of this system.

The social protection of citizens was an essential issue for all countries, regardless of the form of government, sociocultural characteristics, and economic system. In this chapter, we aim to identify the factors, which determined the configuration of the current pension systems implemented in the five CEE countries.

One of the most important tasks for any civilized state is to care for the elderly. The collection of various forms of financial support for individuals who have reached the retirement age set by law or have lost their ability to work through centralized insurance or budgetary funds has existed for a long time. This led to the creation of a pension insurance system covering all citizens. The primary goal of such a system is to prevent poverty due to the loss of working ability due to age. Reforming the domestic pension system has been ongoing for more than 20 years. However, it has not yet ensured the implementation of a three-pillar pension system in Ukraine. This requires a more detailed study of the successful experiences of other countries in this field. This is of particular importance in light of the upcoming post-war reconstruction of our country. All sectors of the economy will undergo reconstruction, and it seems entirely likely that radically new paths for rebuilding will be considered, especially for the population’s social insurance system. Modern pension insurance systems operating in different countries are not alike [1]. They differ in principles and organizational foundations of functioning, coverage of participants, taxation methods and rules governing pension contributions and payments. Each pension system depends on the level and stability of the country’s economic development, traditions, social security experience, labor motivation system, tax, and labor legislation. The article is dedicated to analyzing pension systems in industrially developed countries. Studying the experience of such countries is important for Ukraine due to the necessity of creating an efficient national pension system. The article explores the current challenges and opportunities for reforming Ukraine’s pension insurance system using innovative approaches. Particular attention is paid to analyzing the experiences of foreign countries that have successfully reformed their pension systems and introduced modern pension management methods. In light of rapid demographic aging and increasing financial pressure on pension funds, the article justifies the need to transition to a multi-tiered pension insurance system.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to develop internationalization process theory by examining the relationship between small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) international experience and their degree of insidership in newly opened business networks. Design/methodology/approach – The study applies a quantitative approach. Data were collected on-site at 203 SMEs having entered the Baltic States, Poland, Russia and China. The data are analysed with structural equation modeling in SmartPLS. Findings – The paper reveals that international experience is positively associated with both the country and customer experience in the newly opened business network. Country experience, in turn, is strongly associated with a firm's degree of insidership in the business network. Conflicting with the hypothesized model, no support is found for the direct relationship between international experience and insidership. Nor does the analysis reveal any significant relationship between a firm's customer experience, in terms of variation, in the newly opened business network and the degree of insidership in the network. Research limitations/implications – The paper empirically discriminates different types of international experience derived from theory and examines their relationship with the degree of firm insidership in newly opened business networks. Originality/value – Theoretically this paper advances internationalization process theory by developing its network aspect as well as discriminating different experience types and their role in predicting network insidership in newly opened business networks.

In this paper I review the latest development of China's public pension system. Last several decades saw China's tremendous achievement in various public pension reforms. Especially since the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), reform has accelerated. By 2019, the public pension system in China has covered almost one billion adults, which makes it the biggest pension system in the world. Together with the expansion of Dibao (Basic living allowance) and the eradication of poverty, the development of pension system has become the top agenda in current policy making of the Chinese government. Yet, challenges exist: unequal distribution of pension resource and the long-run unsustainability of the pension system are waiting to be addressed with increasing urgence. Although potential countermeasures, both based on international experience and with Chinese feature, has been proposed and piloted in both regional and national level, there are incremental pressure for further reforming the system. In the latest Five-Year Plan (2021-2015), the government has vowed to construct a unified, equitable, and sustainable pension system with full coverage. This is a very challenging yet exciting goal to achieve not only for the policy makers, but also for academic researchers and general public.

The developed states of the modern world have already understood the need to reform the pension system, which will be adequate for the financial, demographic and economic challenges facing the civilized world. The need to reform the pension system in Georgia is becoming more and more relevant in recent years. One of the important reforms of state social policy and the future development of the economy is the creation of a funded pension system. International experience and the opinions of a number of researchers show that it is necessary to implement a number of reforms in the system. The introduction of the private pension system will make it possible for the social pension system to gradually become an instrument for overcoming poverty. The existing system allows citizens of retirement age to be protected from poverty. Thus, the private pension system would make it possible for the social pension to be aimed at overcoming poverty at retirement age and not at ensuring a high replacement rate. Keywords: Pension, Pension System, Employment.

The purpose of the study was to identify key issues in the legal regulation of the pension fund of the Kyrgyz Republic and to develop proposals for their effective resolution based on the analysis of international practices in various economic systems. The study involved an analysis of legislation using the formal-legal method, a comparison of pension systems in Germany, Sweden, Chile, and Canada through the comparative method, and modelling potential development scenarios for pension legislation using legal forecasting. The main findings demonstrated that the pension system in Kyrgyzstan remains reliant on state sources, limiting its capacity to adapt to changing international financial conditions. The primary challenges in legal regulation included the lack of flexible investment mechanisms and weak control over asset management. Comparative analysis also revealed that countries with diversified pension systems, such as Germany and Canada, pension systems are more resilient due to asset diversification and the utilisation of private investment funds. In countries like Sweden and Chile, there is a growing interest in private pension savings and the implementation of digital technologies for managing pension assets, contributing to greater transparency and efficiency in pension systems. Based on the analysis of international practices, recommendations were developed to strengthen the legal regulation of the Kyrgyz pension fund, including the adoption of international standards of financial transparency and the development of mechanisms to attract private investments into pension assets. The findings indicated the necessity for modernisation of the legal regulation of pension funds in Kyrgyzstan, considering international practices to ensure resilience, transparency, and the protection of participantsʼ rights

The relevance of the studied subject lies in the fact that freedom of speech is a fundamental human right that should be ensured at the legislative level. However, in the era of rapid development of information and communication technologies, it is necessary to find a balance between such provision and the protection of the rights of others. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the legal support of freedom of speech at the international level, and the experience of foreign countries in the legal regulation of this issue. The study utilises general theoretical methods of research, namely historical, abstract-logical, systemic-functional, analysis and synthesis, the method of theoretical generalisation to generalise the theoretical and legal foundations of ensuring freedom of speech existing in foreign countries and to systematise the components of the right to freedom of speech and criteria and conditions for restricting the right to freedom of speech and the right to express views and beliefs. Comparative legal method is used for the analysis and comparison of foreign legislation regulating freedom of speech and the right to express views and beliefs on the Internet. The paper substantiates that the problem of legal regulation of ensuring freedom of speech lies in the complexity of achieving an optimal balance between guaranteeing the right to freedom of speech and protecting others. It is revealed that the implementation of the right to freedom of speech on the Internet and in social networks in the United States, Japan, China, and Germany is regulated differently on the legislative level and various approaches are used. Special attention is paid to legislative provision of responsibility for spreading false information, protection of public safety, and protection of copyright on the Internet. The opinion is justified that the experience of Japan and Germany is the most acceptable for Ukraine. The practical importance of the study lies in the fact that the analysis of the legislation of foreign countries allowed identifying the features of legal regulation of the right to freedom of speech in individual states and establishing the advantages and disadvantages that may exist in this field.

Annotation. Introduction. The article discusses the views of scientists on the “welfare state” model of the implementation of the principles of a socially oriented market economy. Purpose. Analysis of versatile scientific works and researches. Research of the theorical and methodological principles of “welfare state” as a variable conceptual model of modern socially oriented market economy. Results. The implementation of the tactical and strategic task that fundamentally faces the state and the national economy of Ukraine – a significant improvement in the welfare and level of social protection of citizens – is possible only if the socially oriented market economy is consistently developed according to the “state of general welfare” model. Fundamentally, this model should include, as shown earlier: effective private and public sectors of the economy, effective state macroeconomic regulation, high level of social protection and health care, correctly defined goals of investment and innovation development, stimulation of entrepreneurial initiative and competition, a clear focus on a high level of international competitiveness. Conclusions. The socially oriented market economy, built in developed countries in the last third of the twentieth century, was studied as a generalized and practically implemented model of the “welfare state”. Theoretical and methodological directions of its analysis as a conceptual model in variative theoretical and practical approaches and their application in the context of possibilities of realization of general principles, principles and peculiarities of certain countries are defined. It has been shown that in the target orientation of the “welfare state” as a conceptual model of the social market economy, the welfare of the country’s citizens occupies the first place, that is, the standard of living, which includes not only the material component (the level of income per capita), but also such a concept as quality of life (ecology, quality of food, medicines, social standards, etc.). The theoretic and methodological approach to the analysis of the socio-economic system as a model of development and functioning is substantiated, which allows to find out more thoroughly and clearly the main directions of society’s progress in the XXI century. Keywords: welfare state; socio-economic system; socially oriented economy; welfare of the nation; social protection.

The article deals with the actual issues of social protection the citizens. The system of social protection after the collapse of the USSR in the conditions of economic recession and its further transformation during the transition of Ukraine to a market economy are considered. The importance of improving the social protection system is emphasized both to ensure the stable development of society and to meet the requirements for EU membership. The social problems of Ukraine today are discussed, including unemployment, poverty, etc. It is proposed to implement the experience of the European Union countries to develop effective social policy mechanisms in our country that would ensure the approximation of such European standards as: a stable standard of living for the population, an increase in employment, reducing income inequality, strengthening social protection, overcoming poverty. The article summarizes the experience of the countries of the European Union in relation to social assistance to the population, in particular the issues of transition from charity to social policy based on the optimal system of social support and social protection of citizens. The main conclusions are that the efforts of social policy should not be directed only to the provision of social assistance. The importance of providing employment and reducing unemployment is emphasized, since in countries with fragile economies, the risk of poverty is closely related to unemployment. It is noted that the increase in the economic component of the human right to social protection leads to the fact that workers have to deduct a higher percentage of their income into the social security system. Thus, the social safety net must be balanced, not too generous or too passive.

As Pension fund system is a cornerstone of countries economy, policymakers across the globe are still discussing about universal effective pension fund systems and struggling to implement and fit it to the country’s economy demography and financial system. From this point the main objective of this research topic was to test the effectiveness of new pension system reform in Georgia. It focuses on whether the reform will have positive effects on tackling poverty among elderly and bring to Georgian people real prosperity. The pension fund system represents the essential part of the economic policy. Moreover, it defines the social and political stability and future the development of the state economies. By other words, the simple objective of the pension system is to pay pensions to workers in their old ages and to protect elderly against the risk of poverty. As Pension fund system is a cornerstone of countries economy, policymakers across the globe are still discussing about universal effective pension fund systems and struggling to implement and fit it to the country’s economy demography and financial system. From this point the main objective of this research topic was to test the effectiveness of new pension system reform in Georgia. It focuses on whether the reform will have positive effects on tackling poverty among elderly and bring to Georgian people real prosperity. Despite of the central government announcement that the new system of accumulative pension was successfully adopted in the country, there are still hot debates and discussions in Georgian society including its fairness and effectiveness, which indicates the lack their awareness and involvement in this process.Since workers aged over 40 can opt-out from the pension system, hundreds of thousands among population will remain without a decent pension in the future. This will cause massive poverty in old age. The main aim of this paper is to analyze exciting pension fund reform in order to give people a clear understanding of reform. In the presented research, there is discussed the introduction and development reform of the pension system in Georgia. International experience is also analyzed on the example of other countries, specifically Armenia, Azerbaijan Estonia and Latvia. It also discusses the characteristic aspects of the pension model introduced in Georgia. Finally, paper also include Social research specifically opinion of Georgian people about the new pension systems.