Thread: Need help with some words from a news article

Hello! I am a new user. Could anyone translate some words and phrases from a news article I found?

Он отмечает, что группа ГАЗ сократила 30 тыс. сотрудников, до 85 тыс. человек, и "это не предел".

вбелую

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ophelia

Hello! I am a new user. Could anyone translate some words and phrases from a news article I found?

Он отмечает, что группа ГАЗ сократила 30 тыс. сотрудников, до 85 тыс. человек, и "это не предел".

вбелую

Thanks!

He notes that the GAZ group has dismissed (fired) 30,000 employees down to 85,0000 and this is not the end of it.

"в белую" - officially (more context needed)

Thanks!

Here is the context for the second one: Работать вбелую для многих становится уже невыгодным

For the first, does that mean than the company now has 85,000 workers?

Originally Posted by ophelia

Thanks!

Here is the context for the second one: Работать вбелую для многих становится уже невыгодным

For the first, does that mean than the company now has 85,000 workers?

As far as I could understand yes, it now has 85 thousands workers (it is ambiguous even in Russian).

As for the second question, you should understand the realities of employer-employee relations in Russia.
People are a little bit shy about paying taxes in our country, especially when there are so many easy and relatively safe ways not to do it.
So you can pay about 100$ to your employee as a 'white' salary (the one that gets taxed), and pay the rest (say $500) as the so called 'black' or 'grey' salary. It is paid usually in cash and doesn't officially exist.
Вбелую means working transparently without hiding anything from tax authorities opposite to вчёрную - hiding some turnovers from the government thus avoiding 'unnesessary' taxation.

I was always curious about that under-the-table salary. In the US we get a government pension called Social Security when we retire. The amount we get is based on how much we paid in SS taxes. So if our earnings on paper вбелую showed only one-sixth of our real earnings, we would get far less SS pension than if it were all showing on the up and up. Am I correct in thinking that Russian pensions are not calculated as a percentage of your total contributions to the SS tax fund? I.e. everybody gets exactly the same pension amount?

Originally Posted by chaika

I.e. everybody gets exactly the same pension amount?

No, it does depend on the salary and some other factors (and always did, as far as I know, even in the USSR). But the pensions were and are so meager, that many people prefer a few additional bucks now, than some scraps in the future. It may change (there are a few pension reforms afoot).. If so, the mentality will also change. But not until our retirees stop living as beggars, I suppose.

It comes from the fact that as a worker I have to pay only 13% personal income tax (well, I don't pay, I get only 87% in cash, the rest is paid by my company to the Taxation Service). But my employer must also pay 26.6% extra (common social tax) for me.
So if my salary is $1000, I get only $870, but my employers must also pay for me another $266. My pension is accumulated in a state fund both from my 13% and these 26.6% that my boss is unwilling to pay. Sometimes people simply don't have any choice - if some company chooses to pay 'under the table' the rules are simple: 'take it or leave it'.
There is another difficulty with loans. Most banks demand that the applicant provided the so called 'Форма 2 НДФЛ' to prove his monthly income. This form shows how much money was paid as a personal income tax during the last year. If he declared only 10% of his earnings the size of the loan would be reduced likewise.

The decision to ignore pension savings many people make is partly based on the poor track record of Soviet-Russian governments regarding fulfilling their obligations to retirees (and other citizens for that matter) for the last 20 years. Throughout that period the economy was volatile, governments corrupt and irresponsible, and many people lost everything they saved. The pension generally is impossible to live on. Many think that government's promises of financial stability in a distant future and reasonable returns on long-term investments are simply laughable and prefer to spend their earnings while they are still worth something.

Restoring trust in the Russian government will require some serious indoctrination

Originally Posted by chaika

I was always curious about that under-the-table salary. In the US we get a government pension called Social Security when we retire. The amount we get is based on how much we paid in SS taxes.

Today the US Government would collect the actively employed people's Social Security and hand it over to the retirees. As the ratio of the retirees to the actively employed changes, so the future promise of the social security becomes less realistic. So, a lot of people I know would prefer to hide their capital in tax shelters (and otherwise) rather than rely on the Government's promise. That, however, doesn't lead to the system in which employers would prefer to pay their employees cash.

I would say that businesses in Russia would be taxed unreasonably high if they would operate in a fully legal manner. As an employer, you should also consider the real government taxes (you'd need to pay each official for them to not crush your business) and their fees are set arbitrarily. And you should also count in some "protection" portion (which can be significant) depending on the nature of your business. Also, some people are pretty sure their tax money would not be spent by the Government decently so they aren't eager to contribute to the official budget. In a nutshell, if you want to operate a business in Russia, your chances of doing so in a fully legal manner are somewhat slim.

PS. Nymph, in thy orisons be all my sins remembered...