During the World Cup 2018 in Russia, the President significantly increased his retirement age and thought that such a feint would get away with him. However, Russians do not want to work until their death and go out with protests to the streets, according to Die Welt.

"Russians have been unable to regain consciousness for several weeks now: men will have to work until retirement for five years, and women are eight years longer than before," says the author of the publication Klaus Geiger. - Moscow's plan to quietly hold pension reform at a time when the country is keenly watching the World Cup, failed. Resistance to reform does not weaken. This Sunday thousands of citizens have returned to the streets ".

If in foreign policy issues, the journalist writes, Russians are ready to believe in the legends about the Russian greatness proposed by the Kremlin, in the case of pensions, people can calculate: the facts are known to them. "And they understand that the losing side is here - they. And perennial tales of Russian greatness are adding more oil to the fire of popular indignation directed against the authorities. Many people ask themselves: why such an omnipotent country is not in a position to pay me a pension? ".

According to Geiger, the answer is simple: "Russia is not at all so rich and all-powerful.

The catastrophe with the pension system was the consequence of a series of mistakes and miscalculations, like a snowball growing after the end of the Cold War ". One of them is the refusal to diversify the raw material economy. The state does not have the means to continue to support the pension system from tax revenues.

"The rating of Putin in recent days has markedly declined. Now he distances himself from the reform, shifting responsibility to the government and parliament. But will Putin be able to reverse the adoption of the reform? Even if he succeeds, he will only gain time, "the author believes..