Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend I.Khalilova, U.Ismayilova / Founders of the Azerbaijani insurance company Tural Sigorta is being replaced and Bank Respublika of Azerbaijan may possibly become the owners of the new company.
Bank Respublika announced on 23 August it may re-purchase part of Tural Sigorta's stock. Khadija Hasanova, the Chairman of the Managing Board of the Bank, said that the issue is currently under the shareholders' consideration and promised to make an official press release shortly.
Namik Khalilov, the Head of the Insurance Control Department of the Azerbaijani Finance Minister, stressed that no official appeal to the Ministry was made regarding the replacement of shareholders in Tural Sigorta.
The former senior management resigned 1? month ago and the company does not currently function, Eldar Mammadov, former deputy chairman of the Managing Board of Tural Sigorta, said. He confirmed reports of the company being re-purchased. The new company will function under the title of Baki Sigorta with different members of staff
Bank Respublika's entrance into the local insurance market has a promise of being a strong rival, taking into consideration the bank's position in the market. Since Spring 2005 shareholders of Bank Respublika have been the leading German financial institute, including DEG, a member of the banking group KfW, and Sparkassen International Development Trust (SIDT), a member of a financial group Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe. They purchased a stock package in the amount of 25% + 1 share.
To date Tural Sigorta has not made any great achievements within the insurance market, for either insurance fees or rate of capitalization, which currently comprises AZN 0.7mln. In January to June 2007 Tural Sigorta's insurance fees comprised AZN 0.07mln with claims of AZN 0.02mln. Special weight of Tural Sigorta in aggregate amount of all Azerbaijani insurance fees is 0.19%, as of 1 July 2007) and claims made up AZN 0.27%.
Integration of banks into the insurance market is continuing in Azerbaijan, which is in line with the country's banking legislation. At present the International Bank has its new insurance company МСК, UniBank holds Mbask, Xalq Bank holds Xalq Sigorta, etc.
According to the Azerbaijani Finance Ministry, the top 10 insurance companies among 29 in Azerbaijan are as follows:
| Insurance company | Premiums for the first half-year of 2007 (mln AZN) | Claims for the first half-year of 2007 (mln AZN) |
| 1. Azal Sigorta | 12,36 | 0,28 |
| 2.Atesgah | 10,84 | 1,56 |
| 3.Azersigorta | 9,72 | 3,64 |
| 4.Standard Insurance | 7,90 | 1,24 |
| 5. MBASK | 4,46 | 1,47 |
| 6. МСК | 4,22 | 0,83 |
| 7. Xalq Sigorta | 3,29 | 0,44 |
| 8.A-Group | 2,89 | 1,26 |
| 9. Ata Sigorta | 2,17 | 0,25 |
| 10. Pasa Sigorta | 1,79 | 0,02 |