Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The Azerbaijani Insurers' Association (AIA) submitted proposals to Azerbaijan’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA) and the State Social Protection Fund (SSPF) under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population in connection with discussion of amendments to the law on social insurance, AIA head Mustafa Abbasbeyli told Trend.
Presently, the SSPF proposes to amend the legislation in connection with restriction of preferences for persons, who have life insurance, he said.
"According to the current legislation, persons, who have life insurance for a period of more than three years, are exempt from compulsory social insurance contributions. The SSPF proposes to limit the volume of funds that can be directed to compulsory social insurance, but insurance companies do not agree with this. Therefore, we prepared a package of proposals consisting of 12 points and submitted it to the SSPF, as well as to the Chamber, "Abbasbeyli said, without revealing the essence of the proposals.
He said that the current law "On Social Insurance" encourages companies operating in the country to transparent activities. In addition, this law is important for the development of life insurance in Azerbaijan.
"I do not think that the existing preferences should last forever, but now this law plays an important role in stimulating life insurance. Furthermore, this law encourages companies to pursue a more transparent policy on issues of salaries and staffing, "Abbasbeyli said.
Presently, three insurance companies - Ateshgah Life, Qala Life and PASHA Life - render compulsory insurance services against accidents at work in Azerbaijan.
According to the data of Azerbaijan’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA), in January 2018 the life insurance premiums totaled 12.62 million manats, which makes up 15.3 percent of total insurance fees. Payments for this type of insurance amounted to 11 million manats (47.6 percent of total payments).
(1.7 manats = $1 on March 17)