Putin raises retirement age to 70

MOSCOW, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the nation's retirement age to 70, the Kremlin said on its website Wednesday.

Putin, 60, introduced the measure in September, after his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev, 47, lowered the retirement age to 60 in most cases in an attempt to rejuvenate the nation's bureaucracy, RIA Novosti said.

"The introduction of this rule will allow us keeping highly qualified and experienced civil servants as upper level personnel in the federal civil service," the statement said.