Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 4 / Trend A.Akhundov /
The Azerbaijani Finance Ministry's State Insurance Supervision Service has submitted a proposal to Finance Minister Samir Sharifov to amend and delay the requirements for the minimum total capital of insurance companies, service deputy head Mahir Abdullayev told Trend.
"The proposals have been submitted to the minister for consideration," he said. "Certain decisions will be taken in the near future."
According to the approved minimum capital requirements of insurance companies, as of Jan. 1, insurance companies had to bring their total capital to 2 million manat, while reinsurance firms had to increase their total capital to 4 billion manat. As of Jan. 1, 2011, the figure was set to rise to 3.5 million manat and 7 million manat, respectively. As of Jan. 1, 2012, the minimum number was set to rise once more to 5 million and 10 million manat, respectively.
Earlier, the Azerbaijani Insurers Association appealed to the Finance Ministry to reschedule the capitalization, service head Namig Khalilov said. The insurers wanted to delay the capitalization schedule to 2013. He said certain decisions are expected to be made on this issue by late 2010.
Supervisory Board Chairman of the Azerbaijani Insurers Association Azer Aliyev said the measures to improve the minimum total capital requirements are dead-on, but must be delayed.
"The measures on capitalization are correct, as insurance companies are serious financial structures, and they must have serious material resources," he said.
However, Aliyev noted, those measures would be more appropriate at a later date.
"The process of companies recovering after the global financial crisis is continuing, as is the process of integrating insurance companies into the economy," he said. "Therefore, the capitalization requirements should be delayed. Maybe they could be introduced in two years when the situation has improved."
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