Alexander Khristoforov on employment, wages, and pension provision in the Vitebsk region
A positive growth trend in real wages has been maintained. According to Alexander Khristoforov, the average wage for January-November 2022 in the region as a whole amounted to 1344 rubles.
For 11 months of 2022, actual expenditures on pensions and benefits amounted to 2 billion rubles, which is 10% more than the previous year. The average pension size in the region is 621 rubles.
According to Alexander Nikolaevich, a new pension provision mechanism has been in effect since October last year – voluntary funded pension insurance. The goal of the innovation is to expand opportunities for improving material well-being in old age.
The number of jobs with harmful and hazardous working conditions is decreasing annually. A system of health and preventive measures has been developed for employees engaged in conditions of exposure to adverse factors of the production environment. The head of the department is confident that this has made it possible to practically eliminate cases of occupational diseases among workers and achieve one of the lowest levels in this area in the republic.
In the Vitebsk region, the level of social services, rehabilitation and habilitation of disabled people, and state targeted social assistance is constantly increasing, an accessible environment for the life of disabled people and physically weakened persons is being created, and support is provided to incapacitated citizens.
More than 264 thousand elderly citizens live in the Vitebsk region, of which almost 140 thousand live alone, and more than 17 thousand of them are disabled.
To ensure the accessibility of social services for the region's residents, social service points, branches of centers, and mobile social service teams have been organized. Over 15,000 citizens with disabilities have been covered by social assistance at home.
In addition, approximately 5,000 people have been provided with rehabilitation aids, which is 100% of those in need.
As Alexander Khristoforov noted, an accessible environment has been created in almost all buildings of territorial centers and day care departments for people with disabilities, taking into account a comprehensive approach.
Social services are provided not only by territorial centers for social services (which have 155 departments) but also for over 1,500 people in seasonal residences, wintering houses, foster, and guest families. In inpatient social service institutions, where over 3,500 people reside, wards can receive a full range of health improvement procedures.
— The main tasks facing the committee and subordinate institutions for 2023 are to maintain the development dynamics of the entire committee system and, first and foremost, to increase the wage level, and to ensure more effective employment of the population, — shared Alexander Khristoforov. — We plan to improve the forms of social services and provision in order to increase the standard and quality of life for people. Taking this opportunity, I want to congratulate you on your professional holiday and express words of gratitude to all employees of the committee, departments for labor, employment, and social protection of district executive committees, and social service institutions, which is over 6,000 people, for your noble and challenging work.
For the first three quarters of 2022, state targeted social assistance was granted to almost 25,000 citizens for an amount exceeding 11 million rubles. Family capital has been provided to over a thousand large families in the region, and over 1200 decisions have been made on the early disposal of family capital funds.