NAAI’s press-conference, dedicated to a new status of the association, took place

The press conference of the National Association of Agricultural Insurers (NAAI) dedicated to the assignment of the status of a unified all-Russian professional association of insurers in the state funded agricultural insurance market (unified all-Russian association of agroinsurers) to NAAI took place in Moscow on September 23 in the International News Agency “Russia Today” press centre.
Representatives of the Bank of Russia and Ministry of Agriculture, NAAI, All-Russian Association of Insurers and some insurance companies, leaders of the agricultural insurance market, spoke at the conference and answered journalists’ questions there.
Igor Zhuk, the Director of the Insurance Market Department of the Bank of Russia, stated that transition to the unified all-Russian association of agroinsurers is a measure beneficial for insurance service consumers primarily. "The task was not just to create a certain unified association, but to provide a unified guarantee fund, uniform rules, standards which are necessary to make customer service better. Under the circumstances it was not easy as this work required legislative amendments and a kind of selection of associations", mentioned the Director of the Insurance Market Department, having emphasized that the level of discipline and internal control in association was one of the main criteria to consider the association prepared to function as a unified association.
Alexander Karpushin, the Deputy Director of the Economics Department of Ministry of Agriculture, called the transition to a unified all-Russian association of agroinsurers and giving this status to NAAI “a fateful decision”. "For us, as for the Ministry of Agriculture, it’s of utmost importance to ensure interests of agricultural producers", – he noted. Thus he emphasized that agricultural insurance must be available to growers in all territorial entities of the Russian Federation and that insurance companies which really insure agriculture shouldn't lose access to the market.
"There will be no artificial barriers for the insurance companies which fulfill their commitments in good faith concerning payments into the guarantee fund and payments to agricultural producers", – Korney Bizhdov, the President of NAAI declared. He noted that the transition to a uniform association has to be defined by the Directive of the Bank of Russia according to law requirements. "The main thing is to simplify and to standardize the system of agricultural insurance as much as possible and thus to stimulate growers’ demand", – specified the President of NAAI.
The first vice-president of Rosgosstrakh Ltd., Dmitry Markarov, noted that the higher status of NAAI first of all means a more essential amount of work concerning the solution of problems of agricultural insurance together with the state. Primarily, it is the problem of transfer delay of subsidies under already signed contracts, which hasn’t been solved yet, as well as undervaluation of subsidy rates in a number of regions, data corruption arriving from growers. Also he laid emphasis on demotivating of agricultural producers by the present system of provision of emergency assistance due to which the growers do not see the necessity to insure risks, relying exceptionally on loss coverage from the budget. The CEO of "RSHB-Strakhovaniye",Sergey Prostatin, having approved of NAAI choice of a unified association, also highlighted the necessity to improve the calculation of subsidizing marginal rates and distribution of state subsidies between territorial entities of the Russian Federation. The issues of insufficient funds for subsidizing of animals insurance and excess risk insurance of animals were also mentioned.
The press mostly asked questions concerning the total funding of agricultural insurance, pseudo-insurance spread therapy, as well as the structure of the agricultural insurance market with state support. The president of NAAI, Korney Bizhdov , specified that NAAI now includes 19 insurance companies. According to the RF Bank of Russia data as of the end of the first half only 10 companies not included into NAAI operated in the system of agricultural insurance with state support. As Korney Bizhdov noted, NAAI can include the companies which so far weren't engaged in agricultural insurance with state support as some of them are already willing to come in this market.