Insurance Insight: Belarus targets regulatory overhaul of insurance market

09 May 2012

A major overhaul of the Belarus insurance industry is being planned in an effort to close the gap between Belarus and its European neighbours, according to online news agency Xprimm.

Finance minister Andrei Kharkovets discussed the implementation of the 2011-2015 insurance development programme in a session of the council of ministers last week.

As reported by Xprimm, the draft decree proposes gradually increasing the capitalisation of insurance companies by "raising the authorised fund threshold up to an equivalent of €5 million". This will be the default threshold for new organisations, and is intended to improve the competitive ability of Belarus insurers on the Single Economic Space market.

In the interest of harmonising insurance legislation with the Single Economic Space, the document suggests: removing restrictions that prevent private insurance organisations from offering three out of nine kinds of mandatory insurance; allowing foreign companies to provide life insurance services; and eliminating the 35 per cent foreign ownership cap on the authorised fund of an insurance organisation.

Kharkovets emphasised that the Belarus insurance market lags behind those of the European Union and the Single Economic Space.

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