In the spring of 2018, there was active discussion on the Internet about a statement allegedly made by the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation about the causes of poverty among pensioners. According to the official, the whole point is that older people do not know how to invest their savings. We checked whether Elvira Nabiullina said such a phrase.

A statement attributed to the head of the Central Bank, made during the preparation of the pension reform, outraged both ordinary Russians and some stars and journalists. They expressed their dissatisfaction, for example, supporters of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, TV presenter Lera Kudryavtseva, users Twitter And Telegram. Critical materials appeared in various media - from the regional portal ProUfu.ru to "New News" and agencies Regnum. The authors of these materials specifically focused the attention of their readers on the fact that Nabiullina herself, according to the declaration, earns almost 30 million rubles a year.

It's not hard to believe that a high-ranking Russian official could express such an unpopular opinion at such an inopportune time. Suffice it to recall the dialogue that took place two years earlier between Dmitry Medvedev and the residents of Feodosia. Then the Prime Minister replied to a pensioner’s complaint that her pension is not indexed: “There’s just no money now. Let's find the money and do indexation. You hang in here, all the best, good mood and health to you!” Later, in popular memory, Medvedev’s answer was reduced to the phrase “There is no money, but you hold on,” which became a meme.

Unlike the situation with Medvedev, the statement attributed to Nabiullina was not recorded on video. Moreover, all speeches of the head of the Central Bank are published on the official website of the financial regulator. At the end of March and beginning of April 2018, when publications about the verified quote began to appear, such a speech was only one. Summing up the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, Nabiullina twice mentioned non-state pension funds and the importance of pension savings, but did not utter the words that were later attributed to her. We were unable to find a speech by the official, where she connects the poverty of pensioners and their inability to save and invest.

Is it possible that Nabiullina’s opinion was shared by one of her interlocutors or political opponents? The authors of most materials containing at least some reference to this statement cite a post in the Politexpert channel on the Yandex.Zen platform as their source. Although at the time of publication the channel had only about 500 subscribers, the text with a loud headline quickly spread across social networks - a lot of it is still preserved reprints. At the same time, “Politexpert” does not cite any sources; the channel’s authors simply state the fact of such a statement and further criticize the official for being “out of touch with reality.” On Yandex.Zen myself material long ago deleted according to Fact checking program.