Tariceanu on renouncing Pension Pillar II: I assure you this is out of question

Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said on Tuesday, after meeting the representatives of the companies managing Pension Pillar II, that the Government does not want "under any circumstance" to renounce the pension pillar, but said that the measures that have been taken were aimed at increasing the guarantees for the contributors to this pillar.

Tariceanu stressed that the Executive wishes "the pension funds' involvement in the economy through investment".

He also referred to "some dissatisfaction" with the fact that pension funds "are not sufficiently involved in the real economy."

"The second element I presented was related to some dissatisfaction that I and others have, as we see that pension funds are not sufficiently involved in the real economy. Pension funds generally adopt a more cautious policy and prefer to invest in very safe instruments, but we have given the example of other funds from other countries, funds that invest in services, industry etc," the Senate President said.

Tariceanu also specified that both sides agreed to come up with new proposals that would lead to an "acceptable compromise", underlining that the Government wants to involve pension funds through investments in public-private partnerships in large infrastructure projects.

"The representatives of the pension funds presented their point of view, they also had arguments in what they presented. I understood their arguments and agreed, given that this was a first discussion, to come with a series proposals that will lead to an acceptable compromise for both sides. The gain that I would like the Government and Romania to have, the involvement of the pension funds in the economy through investments, which they said they would consider: in public-private partnerships, in large infrastructure projects, things that have not happened so far. There must be opportunities and the legislation should allow this, so we have to work together in this area and I am absolutely convinced that we will reach a satisfactory solution for both sides," Tariceanu pointed out.