European bank buys 35 per cent of Armenian company shares

Arminfo
3 Aug 05

Yerevan, 3 August: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
[EBRD] has purchased 35 per cent of the shares in Cascade Insurance &
Reinsurance Company. A relevant contract was signed today in Yerevan by
the executive director of the insurance company (IC), Levon Mamikonyan;
the deputy executive director of Cascade Capital Holdings, Jonathan
Stark; and the director for financial institutions of the EBRD,
Kurt Geiger.

According to Mamikonyan, with the conclusion of the contract, the
EBRD receives additional issue of shares for 88.4m drams (200,000
dollars). Thus, the authorized capital of the IC reaches 252.5m
drams (500,000 dollars) as against the previous 164.1m drams. As
to the authorized capital, Cascade Insurance & Reinsurance Company
leads 20 operating insurance companies in Armenia. In response to
the questions of Arminfo about the possibility of introducing new
insurance products, Mamikonyan said the development of life insurance
market was for special importance to the company.

Mamikonyan says at present insurance companies offer 67 types of
insurance, but medical insurance and life insurance are not developed
enough. In his words, the development of insurance market in Armenia
requires two conditions: the further development of the legal field
of the insurance sphere and the introduction of several compulsory
types of insurance. In this connection, he pointed out the active
work of the insurance department of the Armenian Ministry of Finance
and Economy, which carried out as much work during the last year as
in the previous seven to eight years. In turn, Kurt Geiger said the
contract would contribute to the development of insurance market and
financial stability of insurance company.