Putin dilutes pension reform that has hurt his popularity

President Vladimir Putin told Russians on Wednesday (August 29) he had decided to dilute unpopular draft legislation to reform the pension system which has hurt his own popularity, but said a shrinking workforce meant some kind of reform was necessary.

Addressing the nation on television, Putin said the retirement age for women should be raised by five years rather than the eight years proposed by the government, and made detailed proposals to soften other aspects of the legislation.

The original proposals, which envisaged raising the retirement age to 65 from 60 for men and to 63 from 55 for women, have pushed Putin's own popularity down to its lowest level in more than four years and stirred protests.

Putin said the draft legislation going through the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, would be amended to reflect his own ideas in the near future.