Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.31
By Abbas Akhundov -Trend:
Azerbaijan's domestic reinsurance market will not undergo major changes, the chairman of the board of AzRe, the only reinsurance company in the country, Fuad Guliyev said.
According to the amendments to Azerbaijan's insurance legislation made in late 2013, insurers will now need to obtain a separate license for conducting reinsurance operations.
"This decision is justified, as the company engaged in reinsurance must be more financially stable than other insurance companies. I understand the regulator's actions in this direction.
This will not change the reinsurance portfolio in the domestic market, since those insurance companies that are engaged in reinsurance, are quite capable of acquiring a license," Guliyev said.
Starting March 1, the capital of the insurance company that wishes to obtain a license for reinsurance activity will have to exceed the minimum requirements for insurance companies of 2.5 million manat, which now stands at five million manat, and from January 1, 2015, the figure rises to five million manat, a relevant draft decision by the Finance Ministry reads.
As head of the State Insurance Supervision Service under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance, Namig Khalilov told Trend previously, five or six insurance companies intend to apply for a license for reinsurance activity in Azerbaijan.
There are 28 insurance and one reinsurance companies in Azerbaijan.
The official exchange rate on January 31 is 0,7842 AZN / USD.
