Newspaper Insurer Press Issue no 24

Newspaper Insurer Press Issue no 24 (30 December – 13 January 2009) with an accent put on the highlights, hot topics and comments Dear readers, in the overview of the newspaper «Insurer Press» we put an accent on the highlights and hot topics news and events. We make you acquainted with the analyses and thoughts expressed by the leading insurers and keep you informed about all that happened within the period between the last two issues of the newspaper. We offer our best wishes to our contributors, friends and well-wishers who celebrate their birthday in this period!

Newspaper Insurer Press Issue n^o 24

 (30 December – 13 January 2009) with an accent put on the highlights, hot topics and comments

 

Dear readers, in the overview of the newspaper «Insurer Press» we put an accent on the highlights and hot topics news and events. We make you acquainted with the analyses and thoughts expressed by the leading insurers and keep you informed about all that happened within the period between the last two issues of the newspaper.

We offer our best wishes to our contributors, friends and well-wishers who celebrate their birthday in this period!

Happy new returns and all the best!

 

We start our overview of the double issue with the hot news on page 2:

• UNIQA decided upon the renewal of all Management Board Seats

As at the beginning of 2010 a newly formed Board will be responsible for the fate of the of UNIQA’s subsidiary in Bulgaria with immediate effect after the approval of the regulatory authorities. Nikolai Genchev (36) will be the new CEO of UNIQA AD insurance company and also Member of the Board of UNIQA  Life AD. Nikolay Kavardzhikliev (41), Member of the Boards of  UNIQA AD and UNIQA Life AD will be responsible for the sales of the companies. Yordan Ghenchev and Elena Karadzhinova will leave the Management Board upon mutual agreement. In the subsidiary's life insurance business, the board members Georgi Georgiev and Nadejda Vantova will further assist Moritz, Lugstein and Genchev.

• New twinning project with the participation of BNB and FSC

15 December 2009 in Podgorica, Montenegro, the official opening ceremony of Twinning Project “Strengthening the Regulatory and Supervisory Capacity of the Financial Regulators” was held, reported BNB and FSC. The European Commission had earmarked 1,199,966.94 euro for the project under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The project will be implemented over a period of 18 months. Bulgarian National Bank in the capacity of leading EU Member State institution and in in consortium with the Central Bank of the Netherlands (De Nederlandsche Bank)  в ролята на управляваща институция от държава членка на Европейския съюз в консорциум с Централната банка на Нидерландия (De Nederlandsche Bank) and the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission. Best European practices will be introduced in the operational framework of three financial supervision authorities.

·      Draft amendment adopted to the Regulation on the Guarantee Fund Organization and Operation. FSC adopted the draft for Amendments and Supplements of Regulation on Organization and Operation of the Guarantee Fund (ROOGF) to cover the necessity for convergence of the regulations for the budget of the Guarantee Fund with those of the Investor Compensation Fund. The proposed amendments of ROOGF are aiming at the implementation of more effective and predictive control of the planning and disbursement of  the financial resources of the Guarantee fund through the empowerment of FSC to  recommend changes of the Guarantee Fund’s budget.

• The final text of the Solvency II Directive has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union

Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II) has been published in the Official Journal on 17 December 2009. The directive regulates the activities of direct insurance and reinsurance in the European Union.

The new Directive is recasting the  14 insurance and reinsurance directives in one single document, laying down new solvency rules for the insurers and reinsurers.

The new regime shall apply from 1 November 2012 and is broken down into three complementary pillars relating to three groups of requirements that shall be met by the insurers:

1. Quantitative (financial) requirements – dealt with valuation of assets and liabilities;technical provisions;own funds; olvency Capital Requirement;Minimum Capital Requirement;investment rules.
2. Qualitative requirements and supervision - outline the regulations for evaluating the adequacy of governance and risk management systems and processes along with measures for effective supervision of the insurance industry supervision;
3. Supervisory reporting and public disclosure and transparency requirements. Insurers will have to disclose certain information publicly. This will enforce greater market discipline, and help to ensure the stability of insurers and reinsurers.

 

Pages 4, 5 and 18 Column: VIP Chat.

They are two outstanding professionals: the one is a poet – man of the Art, the other is a medical man and health insurance expert.

The first does not concern himself with health insurance, at least not daily, however the life is material and he would like to enhance his financial culture.

The other can explain him in down-to-earth language how to take care for his health.

They meet at «VIP Chat» because the first has been willing to ask some questions about the options to get more health for his money, while the other has been pleased to provide some tips and consultation.

Finally, they changed their roles and the manager have been asking questions about the modern poetry, art and culture, while the other have really enjoyed talking art.

What are they talking about – the poet  George Konstantinov and  Dr. Mimi Vitkova, MD, Director, Doverie United Health – Insurance Company, Chairwoman of the Association of Licensed Voluntary Health Insurance Companies. Georgi Konstantinov is asking questions about the state health care and the private health insurance systems, as well as the hot question “Why Bulgarians are the sickest nation in Europe?”. The Voluntary health insurance products are almost unknown in the country and there is not an adequate advertising that could attract the well-off. What makes the difference between the private insurance funds and the National Insurance Fund?

For him, our national insurance system is as sick as our society, however has not yet found its healers.

And what did Mimi Vitkova ask Georgi Konstantinov?

The poetry of today matches the cosmic outlook on the planet and the daily look at the outstretched hand of a beggar.

Mr. Konstantinov has recently published his book “New verses. Lyrics and Satire”, verses that have been written during the last two years. How the poet of today copes with the surrounding reality?

 

Pages 6 and 7: Analyses: Insurance and voluntary health insurance

Insurance sector as a whole registers 4 per cent negative growth for January-October.

The announced Insurance Market Statistics up to 30/10/2009 have been announced, including the voluntary health insurance market.

The 10-months results posted by the companies in the non-life insurance sector in the period January-October 2009  amount to BGN 1,163,115 thousand in written premiums (including premiums of the companies that operate in reinsurance field), but in life insurance the result is BGN 177,356 thousand . Thus the non-life sector’s reported decline of 0,8% y.o.y in non-life insurance, while the life sector declines 19,4% y.o.y, bringing the cumulative result of the industry to 3,7% decline.

 

Page 9  The first interview with Rumen Dimitrov, CEO, Municipal Insurance Company. “Our main priorities are to ensure the stability of the company and greater security of our clients”, shared Mr. Dimitrov.

 

On pages 11, 20 and 21 we carry the  Cover Story – Medical insurance is always relevant. The Bulgarian insurers offer the insurance pack «Travel Medical Insurance and Assistance», which is dedicated to the travelers abroad. The policyholder can make (not) use of medical assistance services of an assistance company. The assistance company provides a medical professional, pays the medical care costs, including those for the medicines prescribed, etc . The advantage of this procured assistance is that the assistance company will cover the potential out-of-pocket expenses that could result from an injury or illness while traveling. The assistance companies provide 24-hour professional medical aid and transportation in case of an accident or an illness suddenly occurred during the Policyholder's trip or stay abroad, regardless of his location, directing him to a specialized medical centre.

On few pages of the newspaper, we care detailed information about the clauses of the usual contracts, possible formalities, covered risks, limits, territorial scope, and the insurance premiums according to the tariffs of some. of the leading Bulgarian insurers.

 

Page 16  Vienna Insurance Group –  aiming to be more efficient in the time of crisis in order to prepare for the time after the crisis.

            The traditional meeting of the management of Bustrad Vienna Insurance Group and Bulgarski Imoti AD with leading financial business media was attended by Roumen Yanchev, Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive of the both companies, and his deputies  Ivan Ivanova and Ivo Gruev,  also Svetla Nestorova, Chair of the Board and CEO of Bulstrad Life Vienna Insurance Group, Radoslav Dikov, CEO of Bulgarski Imoti AD.

At the end of November 2009, the Group reported premium income of BGN 200 million. This comes as a confirmation of the forecasts for 2009 in terms of premium income and claims paid. “We planned to reach the same results we had last year and we will get that point”, Mr. Yanchev emphasized.

 

On page 22 Dr. Galina Dimitrova, Senior Assistant Professor, Human Resources and Social Protection Department, University of National and World Economy (UNWE),  presents a book which is very useful both in theory and practice.

            Associate professor Hristo Draganov, Ph.D has new “offer” on the book market – his new book “Controlling in Insurance”, University Publishing House “Stopanstvo”, Sofia, 2009. At present the insurance business is facing a major structural change. In this context the International Financial Reporting Standards, the emerging Fair Value Accounting, the Solvency II Directive are just a few of the overall amount of topics leading to heated debates among those involved. The discussions tend to focus on single aspects of the upcoming regulations rather than evaluating their practical feasibility. In fact, the concept for the controlling of insurance companies has been lacking so far. This book of Professor Draganov is about to change that.

We finish our overview with something curious – the story by Gergana Ivanova, Manager, Insurance Broker Finsales EOOD, „Legs for US$1 Million Each”.

People buy life insurance, MTPL insurance, medical insurance, property insurance and the like, which we consider as normal and the insurance companies sell them and many people purchase them. But there iare also some insured (and also insurable) items which only a few have done.

The first stars with weird “anatomic” insurances are Betty Grable and Marlene Dietrich.