Armenia`s government to act as reinsurer of agricultural risks 

ArmInfo. Currently, insurance is applied in Armenia for 13 types of plants under four types of risks. This was announced at a press conference on March 28 by Ira  Panosyan, Head of the Department for the Development of Agricultural  Programs of the RA Ministry of Economy. 

According to her, from 2020 to 2023, there was an increase in the  dynamics of 28 agricultural insurance programs. Thus, if in 2020  farmers concluded 1,546 crop insurance contracts on an area of 2.5  thousand hectares, then in 2023 this figure increased to 10 thousand  contracts covering 11 thousand hectares of land.  Nevertheless, as  the head of the department noted, a high level of damage was noted  during the specified period, as evidenced by the fact that farmers  received about 2.5 billion drams in insurance payments against 1.5  billion drams of damage incurred. As a result, Swiss reinsurer The  Swiss Re Group announced its intention to temporarily withdraw from  the program in 2024.

Considering that this program is very important, Panosyan noted, the  government, noting serious global climate changes, decided to fully  assume the role of reinsurer of agricultural risks from 2024. This  project, in which the state's share has been significantly increased,  will continue in 2025. If 65-70% of insurance payments were  subsidized until 2025, then from this year 75-80% of insurance  payments will be subsidized. This is an unprecedented volume, which  is rarely used in any country. At the same time, the names of  products subject to insurance have been significantly increased. If  last year, apricot and grape harvests were not involved in this  process, then in 2025 they will be insured.

Earlier, ArmInfo, citing RA Minister of Economy Gevork Papoyan,  reported that even if the damage to the crop exceeds 200%, farmers  will still be issued insurance premiums. Papoyan noted that in 2026,  another reinsurance company will be selected as a partner of the  program. Now, according to him, active negotiations are underway with  several companies simultaneously. At the same time, the minister  emphasized that in 2025, under the agricultural insurance program, it  will be possible to insure all agricultural crops against all types  of risks.

Recall that the agricultural risk insurance program was launched in  Armenia in September 2019 and continued to operate until 2023, in  fact, in pilot mode, covering six regions of the country. Insurance  companies began selling policies in early 2020.