Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Agree to Recognize Each Other’s Pension Service

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have signed a draft agreement to mutually recognize each other’s pension service periods.

Under the new arrangement, periods of employment will be counted toward pension calculations regardless of which country the individual worked in or currently resides, The Caspian Post reports, citing Uzbek media.

The draft documents were signed in Tashkent during a meeting between representatives of the two states’ institutions.

The talks involved staff from the Social Fund of Kyrgyzstan and the Off-Budget Pension Fund under Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Economy and Finance. As a result, the parties signed a draft agreement on state social insurance and pension provision. At the same time, it was clarified that the document takes into account the specific features of the legislation of both countries.

The main goal of the agreement is to ensure equal rights for Kyrgyz and Uzbek citizens in receiving insurance and state pensions, as well as to prevent the double payment of insurance contributions.

The document signed in Tashkent provides for:

• combining service periods for pension entitlement;

• paying pensions to citizens regardless of their country of residence, without deducting delivery costs;

• regulations on business trips and extensions of terms to prevent double contributions.

Kyrgyz officials believe the implementation of this agreement will strengthen bilateral relations between the republics and create additional opportunities for social and economic cooperation, including within large infrastructure projects such as the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.