Tajik labor migrants working in the Russian Federation now    can apply for pension in the Russian Federation.  

A relevant government-to-government agreement on this subject was signed between Tajikistan and Russia in September 2021, Dilmurod Davlatzoda, the head of the Agency for Insurance and Pensions, told reporters in Dushanbe on February 7.  

According to him, Tajikistan has also signed relevant pension agreements with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

“Tajik citizens working in the countries, with which Dushanbe does not have an appropriate agreement, upon reaching retirement age will receive a social pension,” Davlatzoda noted.  .

Only a labor migrant having a patent, an agreement with an employer, an employment record book, an insurance number of an individual personal account (SNILS), and whose insurance fee is monthly paid by his/her employer to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation will be able to receive the Russian pension.  

Under the agreement, a Tajik labor migrant legally working in Russia can choose for himself / herself in which country he / she wants to receive a pension – in Russia or in Tajikistan. 

According to official date from the Russian authorities, some 1.6 million Tajik citizens entered Russia to work last year.  It’s a figure that many observers had suspected but had never before been reflected in official statistics, which usually record around 1 million.

Labor migrants are a critical component in the economy of Tajikistan and remittances keep many families at home above the poverty line.