Moscow: The Russian Ministry of Finance has submitted to the government a package of bills defining the procedure for admitting and operating foreign insurers on the Russian market. It should enter into force on August 22, 2021, in accordance with the commitments made by Russia upon joining the WTO.
Until now, foreign insurers could work in Russia only through the creation of subsidiaries, and from next year they will be able to open branches here without forming separate legal entities. They will be admitted to voluntary insurance, reinsurance and OSAGO on a par with Russian companies. But other types of compulsory insurance will be prohibited for them. “The bill provides the necessary balance between protectionist measures to protect the national insurance market and the creation of fair competition between foreign and Russian insurers,” the Ministry of Finance emphasizes.
The current version of the bill takes into account many of the proposals of the All-Russian Union of Insurers (ARIA), said ARIA President Igor Yurgens. “For example, the accreditation procedure, which should be applied to the branches of foreign insurance companies, has been clarified – it has approached the licensing regime for Russian insurers,” he says. Ilya Solomatin, Deputy General Director for External Relations of Ingosstrakh, considers it fair that the requirements for branches of foreign companies are as close as possible to those imposed on independent legal entities. The expert considers the draft law “in principle, normal, balanced”, but with one caveat: “We do not understand why, forbidding foreigners to engage in all compulsory types of insurance, admit them nevertheless to OSAGO. If foreign insurers come here, they should start with classic types of insurance, and then enter the closed markets.