Duma floats transitional age limit rules

Plans for an upper age limit of 65 for directors of Russia's national research organisations should be amended to allow existing directors to see out their terms, a committee of Russia's parliament has said.

The labour committee of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, has lent its support to the introduction of transitional arrangements, according to an article published by the Russian news agency TASS on 19 November. These would allow directors who are already in place to retain their roles until their contracts expire, up to a maximum of 3 years after the introduction of the law.

The original plans, introduced in June, would involve senior officials over the age of 65 being removed from their positions. However, in October, the deputy chairman of the State Duma’s science committee raised concerns that more than half of the heads of Russian Academy of Sciences organisations would be forced to depart immediately, and called for transitional arrangements to be put in place.