Thursday, October 18 2018 13:33

ArmInfo. Up to this day no memorandums with insurance companies about the start of the program agricultural insurance in Armenia have been signed, member of the  Agricultural Alliance and Advisor to the Executive Director of "Nairi  Insurance" IC Artak Martirosyan said, recalling the report previously  published by the Ministry of Agriculture that the sale of insurance  policies of agricultural risks in Armenia may begin at the end of  2018 or early 2019.

He told about it during the recent press tour to  the Ararat region, which was held in the framework of the program  "Policy of collective participation - sustainable agriculture",  funded by the EU under the program "Commitment to a constructive  dialogue."

In an interview with ArmInfo, A. Martirosyan noted that in the global  aspect there are two key problems, due to which the introduction of  agricultural insurance is delayed. "First of all, there is no  complete vision of the possible risks and losses resulting from them.  At the same time, there are no mechanisms for assessing the damage to  agriculture. "he explained. According to the expert, the  aforementioned issues are among the topics discussed by the Central  Bank and the KfW German development bank for launching a program to  implement the agricultural insurance system.

A. Martirosyan, in particular, spoke about the experience of Nairi  Insurance IC in the participation in the pilot program of the  Ministry of Agriculture for cattle insurance, which started in March  2017 and lasted exactly one year. "All participants of the Armenian  insurance market were invited to the meeting. A tender was announced,  in which the winner would be the company offering the lowest  tariffs," he added, noting that only three out of 6 insurance  companies operating in Armenia agreed to take part - Nairi Insurance  , Rosgosstrakh Armenia and INGO Armenia. "It is noteworthy that it is  cattle insurance that contains the lowest risks in itself. But as it  turned out, exactly half of Armenian insurance companies, even taking  this into account, were not ready to start agro-insurance and take on  these risks," the expert said. The total cost of the program, which  was financed by FAO, was $ 3 million. At the same time, A.  Martirosyan expressed readiness on behalf of Nairi Insurance to  extend the program if it collected about 225 head of cattle as a year  earlier.  "Participation in the pilot program allowed us to  understand the nuances, risks, which insurance companies may face,  consider different cases and find solutions. 32 farmers took part in  the pilot - 18 men and 14 women. During the pilot insurance program  refunds were paid in 4 cases, "he said.  Considering that the Nairi  Insurance is a member of the Agricultural Alliance, A. Martirosyan  noted that the company is interested in participating in the  agricultural risk insurance program and in other areas of the  agricultural sector.

To note, during the press tour, the journalists visited the community  of Shahumyan in the Ararat region, where a meeting of the beneficiary  farmers of the pilot program with experts took place. After that,  they visited Khor Virap consumer cooperative in Small Vedi community,  the chairman of which spoke about the successful cooperative  experience with the introduction of drip irrigation technology and  hail plants.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the German KfW Bank will  allocate a grant of 5.3 million euros for the implementation of a  pilot program for the implementation of the agricultural insurance  system in Armenia. Of these, 4.8 million euros will be used  exclusively to subsidize the purchase of insurance policies. The  remaining amount of 515 thousand euros will cover the costs  associated with consulting. The RA Government represented by the  Ministry of Agriculture will co-finance the program in the amount of  5 million euros. Climate Investment Fund will also provide 2 million  euros, of which 200 thousand euros will be used to subsidize the  purchase of insurance policies, and 1.8 million euros - for  consulting services.  Consulting will be handled by a consortium  consisting of three companies. Together with these companies, the  Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank will prepare in 2018 the  first pilot project on agricultural insurance in Armenia, within the  framework of which it is planned to establish the National  Agricultural Risk Management Agency (NARMA) Office. 1.9 million euros  will be allocated on the establishment of the Bureau, retraining of  personnel and the formation of the institute of the appraiser, the  development of secondary legislation and the services of the  consulting company. The bureau will be the tool by which to evaluate  the consequences of natural environmental disasters. An institute of  damage evaluators will be set up, the main insurable risks will be  selected. NARMA will also develop insurance products. At the initial  stage, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, insurance will  affect fruit and vegetable and grain products.  Covered risks at the  first stage, probably, will include damage from hail, and then,  possibly, from frost and drought. In July of this year the Ministry  of Agriculture reported that since the beginning of 2019 it is  planned to implement pilot agricultural insurance programs in  Armavir, Ararat and Shirak regions.