In the reporting period, the life insurance segment saw a significant growth, up by 48.89%, especially due to health and pension types of insurance, which saw an increasing popularity.
Besides the increasing financial literacy of the citizens, stimulating a stronger awarness of the pensions savings necessity, life insurance products are benefitting also from fiscal incentives. Yet, local experts say that both the potential capacity of the life insurance business and the public's interest for the products with an investment component may be even higher if the market had not been monopolized. At the present on the life insurance market are operating only two companies: STRAVITA (the state-owned insurer with the 75% the market share) and PRIOR LIFE (private company with the 25% the market share), while for the other two insurers PENSIONNIE GARANTIY and MEGA Polis licenses were revoked.
The development of competition in the life insurance segment is hampered by the existing legislation. Namely, there are unequal rights between private and state-owned insurance companies. The insurance law doesn't allow private insurance companies to carry out mandatory types of insurance.
In case of employee insurance, organizations can include the premium expenses into the operational costs only in case of concluding the insurance agreement with the state-owned insurer - STRAVITA.
The National Bank of Belarus has worked out a project named "Strategy of developing financial market in 2016-2020", which involves liberalization of the local insurance market and the equal rights of private insurance with government organizations. At the same time, according to the project, restrictions to state-owned enterprises in collaboration with private insurers will be cancelled, which under the current legislation should be served only by insurance companies with state ownership.
Access www.xprimm.com and download the FY2016 Belarusian insurance market statistics.
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