Mandatory insurance introduction will boost the market

YEREVAN, December 24, /ARKA/. Introduction of mandatory insurance will spur up this market, Aram Piruzian, executive director of London-Yerevan insurance company, said in an interview to ARKA.

He said to the best of his knowledge the bill on mandatory issuance went through the parliament in two readings.

In his words, introduction of such a law is a painful process in any country, but it is necessary. He said the government has to do a great deal of hard work in this direction to create and develop backing infrastructure and institutions. Otherwise, he said, insurance companies will face very complicated problems.

London-Yerevan insurance company was established in 2000 by British Londongate group, consisting of companies operating in Great Britain, East Europe, CIS and Africa. It offers vehicle, health, travel, property, accidents insurances. Its authorized capital as of December 1 stood at 575 million Drams, assets at 1.4 billion Drams and liabilities at 595 million Drams, by 7 million Drams less than in 2008.

There are 12 insurance companies in Armenia with aggregate assets of 14,2 billion Drams and 4.3 billion Drams liabilities. At the end of September, 2009 their equity capital totaled 9.9 billion Drams, the aggregate capital stood at 7.9 billion Drams. They all earned 1.4 billion Drams of net profits in the first nine months of the year. Insurance companies are supervised by Central Bank of Armenia. -0-