ARMENIA TO PRACTICE MICRO-INSURANCE TO AID SOCIALLY VULNERABLE

/ARKA/
April 28, 2009
YEREVAN

The U.S. Micro-Insurance Center fir the Central and Eastern Europe
and CIS and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
plan to implement in Armenia the micro-insurance model to assist the
socially vulnerable.

According to Levon Mamikonyan, chairman of the Association of Insurance
Market Participants, micro-insurance enables low-income individuals
get insured against fire, earthquake, accidents, diseases and death.

"Insurance was affordable only for the solvent part of the population,
whereas now services of insurance companies are accessible for people
with low income," Mamikonyan said. The service prices range from 60
drams to 1,500 drams (from $0.2 to $4), he added.

"People sometimes save money for a rainy day, but, as a rule, they
lack money in hard times. The purpose of micro-insurance is to help
people in difficult situations," Mamikonyan was quoted saying.

According to the official, micro-insurance is an attempt to aid the
socially vulnerable.

"We have offered 11 insurance companies to cooperate with us and only
two of them have taken up the call. The program’s pilot project will
be implemented in Armenia’s Kotayk region. Trainings and seminars
will be organized in the region to raise public awareness of the
micro-insurance system," Mamikonyan concluded.

Armenuhi Mkrt chyan, head of the Department for the Protection
of Consumer Rights and Market Behavior, Central Bank of Armenia
(CBA), the Central Bank hails implementation of micro-insurance in
Armenia. She stressed the need for raising public awareness of the
system and providing enough financial education to the population.