RA CB PREPARES "GREEN" CORRIDOR TO ATTRACT INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS TO INSURANCE MARKET
Arminfo
2007-02-20 10:20:00
The task of attracting the institutional investors to the Armenian
insurance market is one of the most important ones for the development
of the country’s market of insurance services, Chairman of RA Central
Bank Tigran Sargsyan said at a Round Table in Tsakhkadzor. According
to him, "we need investors who will strike the keynote of the market
and implement a definite business culture". T. Sargsyan estimated
the potential volumes of Armenia’s insurance market of $250 mln and
considered them enough for the attraction of even two big foreign
companies to the country.
The Head of RA CB told of the consultations with potential investors,
which have already started. "We have prepared business-cases for
them, organize meetings at the international forums and discuss
the conditions of entry in our market. The problem of non-hurry
of foreign insurers to our country is in the scantiness of human
resources. Armenia is a small country with little opportunities,
while the western insurers are targeted today at seizing the markets
of the Eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine. Therefore, we are ready to
provide them with a maximum preferred treatment from the viewpoint of
both a taxation and a regulative-normative base". Talking of the market
development logic, T. Sargsyan underlined that the Armenian insurance
companies will have to undergo a urification stage first, since the
"today’s insurance market of Armenia resembles a banking sample of
1995". The next stage, according to T. Sargsyan, is the necessity
to implement the common work standards in the market and create a
single infrastructure for registration of insurance cases (heath,
police, fire prevention). A difficult work of creating an Institute
of actuaries lies ahead, after which one may start implementing a
compulsory insurance in some spheres.
As T. Sargsyan said, the problem is how to run a demarcation line
between the banking and insurance services. Package services are
rendered in the developed countries. For example, the hypothec includes
the whole package of risk control, including the insurance. "We are now
on the way of forming such a method and we shall prepare a legislation
about financial holdings", T. Sargsyan said. He especially noted that
the essence of strategy is in the creation a clear-cut distinction
between the services of the banks and insurance companies as to assure
a distinct responsibility for the risks of each one.
Fourteen insurance companies are functioning today in the Armenian
market.
However, as T. Sargsyan said, "no one of them stands up to criticism".
However, there is an understanding and this understanding should
be mutual".
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
