INSURANCE GIANT IN GEORGIAN MARKET
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 11 2005
American International Group (AIG) has entered the Georgian insurance
market. The branch office of AIG Europe S.A, AIG – Georgia, was
registered in April 2005 and in May it received the right to insure
real estate. According to statements from the company’s administration,
it plans on supporting healthy competition rather than threatening
local companies.
The American insurance company entered the Georgian market after the
government amended the previous insurance law in 2004. Under the new
law, any insurance company registered in OECD member countries is
now able to open branch offices in Georgia. The affiliated company
of AIG – AIG Europe S.A – whose head office is located in Paris-
was the first to take advantage of the new legislation.
According to AIG management, they have big plans for their Georgian
office. There are already signs that AIG will play an important role in
the Georgian insurance market: the total amount of premiums collected
by the company per year is approximately USD 90 billion.
Currently, Georgia’s largest insurance company, Imedi, takes in
premiums of about GEL 9 million.
Currently there are 17 insurance companies operating in Georgia. The
newspaper 24 Saati reported that they serve consumers with 16 types
of insurance products. According to the Georgian State Insurance
Supervision Service, in 2004 the remaining 16 companies earned a total
GEL 45,106,000 in premiums while paying GEL 12,631,000 in damages.
However, despite their deeper pockets, AIG is not planning on working
against Georgian companies. According to General Manager of AIG-Georgia
Nikoloz Kitiashvili, in the beginning the company will concentrate
largely on re-insurance operations because Georgian companies favor
using foreign insurance companies for this purpose.
The newspaper 24 Saati reported that AIG is already established in
Azerbaijan, where it holds 15 percent of the local insurance market –
largely in the form of big corporations. The AIG branch office founded
in Georgia will also operate in Armenia. “We have the opportunity
to reduce some of the risk for Armenian and Georgian insurance
companies. This means that additional currency will be imported into
Georgia to develop the insurance market in the Caucasus,” stated
the Kitiashvili.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress