Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 26 / Trend A.Akhundov /
The major French AXA Group Insurance Company, which has joined the shareholders of the Azerbaijani MBASK Insurance Company in October, can either suppress the local insurance company or promote depending on the plans for operations in Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Board of the International Insurance Company (IIC) Feyruz Novruzov said.
"If AXA seriously works in Azerbaijan, then the company, being one of the biggest players on a global scale, is likely to create serious competition for local companies. It has great financial capacity and wider product range. The company's opportunities are very large, and it will be very difficult for us to compete with AXA. Surely, they will try to seize much business in the local insurance market," Novruzov said.
He said the competition has dramatically increased in the Azerbaijani insurance market over the past two years.
"The competition has dramatically increased in the insurance market even before the arrival of the French insurer. The situation was different a couple of years ago. I speak from our experience, we have worked quite comfortably with our regular clients, renewed agreements from time to time, attracted new customers and all was relatively calm. But, the competition increased greatly over the past two years, particularly in 2009. The companies struggle for each client sometimes fairly and sometimes not. Some companies observe outflow of customers, and the arrival of AXA can greatly increase this," Novruzov said.
However, he said, the arrival of AXA can serve as an impetus to the market development.
"There will be certain push to the market. Surely there will be some innovations, both in terms of services and products, and in terms of attitudes towards the insurance business and increase confidence. It can pull all of us behind them. But, nevertheless, we accept their appearance with some caution," Novruzov said.
AXA Group bought shares of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Azerbaijani MBASK's capital. AXA Group subsidiary - AXA Seguros Generales acquired a controlling stake by purchasing the Bank's shares in capital of MBASK, where the bank owned 30 percent shares and 21 percent of company's principle shareholder Eldar Garibov. Garibov will own the remaining share of 49 percent.
AXA provides services for life and health insurance, contributions, the international insurance and reinsurance, financial management, and others. The headquarters of AXA Company founded in 1816 is located in Paris. AXA employs 216,095 employees and it has 96 million customers worldwide.
According to Fortune magazine, AXA occupies the ninth position in the list of 500 largest companies in the world.
There are 27 insurance companies and one reinsurance company in Azerbaijan. The number of insurance companies with foreign capital is five.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: [email protected]