Wednesday, October 23 2019 00:48

ArmInfo. On October 22, the Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia Artak Kamalyan participated in a discussion meeting on the issue of introducing risk insurance in the field of cattle breeding. The meeting was organized by the  Central Bank of Armenia with the assistance of the German Development  Bank KfW and the National Agency for Agricultural Risk Insurers.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Economy of Armenia,  the purpose of the meeting is to find out with the help of the best  experts the possibilities of introducing risk insurance in the field  of animal husbandry.

As Kamalyan noted in his welcoming speech, the introduction of  agricultural insurance is extremely important for the development of  agriculture in Armenia. As he pointed out, the meeting aims to  organize effective and operational steps in this direction.

During the discussion, international experience was presented, a wide  range of issues were touched on, including problems in the insurance  system itself, risks and expected results.

Earlier, ArmInfo reported that the agricultural insurance process is  starting in Armenia. At the end of September this year Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his Facebook page expressed the idea that  the agricultural insurance mechanism should still be streamlined,  adjusted, improved, but it should be tested so as to understand its  strengths and weaknesses, according to the logic "where it's thin,  there torn. " He informed that at the first stage the insurance will  cover apricot orchards and vineyards, and that the risks covered by  the insurance are hail, fires and spring frosts.

Farms from Armavir, Ararat, Aragatsotn, Tavush, Kotayk and Vayots  Dzor regions will be insured against hail and fires, and farmers from  Armavir and Ararat will be able to insure against spring frosts. The  insurance coverage, as well as the agricultural crops falling under  it, according to the information, will be expanded annually, "until  it covers all regions of Armenia." In addition, farmers will be able  to choose one of 5 insurance policies. The size of the insurance  premium will be determined on the basis of a risk assessment on a  particular land plot. For any insurance package, 50% of the amount of  the insurance premium will be paid by the Armenian government, and  when making full insurance, that is, simultaneous insurance against  all risks - hail, fire and frost, relies on a 10% discount.

The state within the framework of the agricultural insurance project  will subsidize 50% of the cost of the insurance policy (against the  previously called 60-65% - Ed.). Created by the National Agency of  Agricultural Insurers (www.aina.am). Three companies are partnering  the agency - Ingo-Armenia, Rosgosstrakh Armenia and Seal Insurance.  They specify the internal mechanisms for the further servicing of  policies for this class of risks. A major Swiss company SwissRe will  reinsure agricultural risks as part of a pilot project. The first  insurance contracts are expected to be concluded in January 2020.

According to ArmInfo, the German bank KfW allocated a grant of ? 5.3  million for the implementation of a pilot program for the  implementation of the agricultural insurance system in Armenia. The  main amount of the grant of 4.8 million euros should have been  directed exclusively to subsidizing the purchase of insurance  policies by farmers. The remaining amount of 515 thousand euros went  to cover the costs associated with consulting. In this case, the  Government of the Republic of Armenia represented by the Ministry of  Agriculture will co-finance the program in the amount of 5 million  euros. The Climate Investment Fund (Climate Investment Funds) 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. A consortium of three companies will  be engaged in consulting. 1.9 million euros were allocated for the  creation of AINA, the retraining of personnel and the formation of  the institution of an appraiser, the development of by-laws and the  services of a consulting company.