ATESHGAH -KEEPS LEADING IN AZERBAIJAN'S INSURANCE MARKET
Caspian Energy (CE): Ateshgah Company has operated for more than 10 years in the insurance market. What was the company's progress over this period of time, including the year 2006?
Intigam Huseynov, General Director, Ateshgah Insurance Company: From the very moment of its setup, Ateshgah IC has set the primary objective to provide high-quality and yet affordable services to its customers. As a result of a correctly selected operating strategy the company has been keeping its leadership in the Azerbaijan's insurance market from 2001 both by amount of collected premiums and quality of provided services. The company today employs over 100 people. All insurance department employees are studying in Chartered Insurance Institute in London. Many of them have already held the relevant diplomas and certificates from this Institute.
The company is also one of insurance market leaders by amount of net assets. At present amount of the company's net assets exceeds 4.5 million AZN.
In 2006 the company kept its leadership in insurance market with 13.9 million AZN of collected premiums. Ateshgah's market share by collected premiums totaled 16%. The same year our company provided the biggest insurance amount in the history of Azerbaijan. The amount of loss Ateshgah paid due to failure of offshore exploration well was 12.9 million AZN. As a result, Ateshgah IC's share in Azerbaijan's insurance market by paid-up losses totaled 34% in 2006.
Through 2006 the company significantly grew its insurance portfolio in respect to car and property insurance and voluntary health insurance.
CE: What are the components of your success?
Intigam Huseynov: The main factors of the company's success have been the high quality of provided services, highly skilled team of insurance specialists trained in compliance with Western standards, and service quality management system that is in effect at all stages of customers servicing, from risk assessment to payment of damages.
In this respect, I should underline our company's financial stability based on strict commitment to standard indicators set by state insurance control agencies and competently built re-insurance protection, and as a consequence, customers and leading reinsurance and brokering companies.
CE: What is your vision of company's role in the economy of the country?
Intigam Huseynov: All the time Ateshgah IC has been contributing significantly to the development of Azerbaijan's insurance market.
The company initiated the examination center of London Chartered Insurance Institute in Azerbaijan. Over many years Ateshgah IC had been engaged in arrangement and holding of examinations of this institute both for its employees and Azerbaijan's insurance market as a whole.
The company has been and is going to participate in development of insurance regulations both through state agencies and by partaking in the work of public organizations.
CE: How could you forecast company's development in 2007? Are there any opportunities to extend its operations? If yes, could you provide any detail?
Intigam Huseynov: In 2007 the company's activities will be aimed at raising the services quality and diversifying insurance portfolio.
Company will keep working on software improvement by implementing the state-of-the-art technology. Ateshgah IC hopes for extension of successful cooperation and relations with existing and future customers of insurance market.
CE: What are the innovations Ateshgah brought to Azerbaijan's insurance market? Is it planning to introduce any new products?
Intigam Huseynov: Ateshgah IC is the only insurance company in Azerbaijan's insurance market that provides world-class services of insuring energy risks related to exploration and development at onshore and offshore oil&gas fields.
The company was the first in Azerbaijan's insurance market to have obtained ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Certificate in December 2003; moreover, in 2006 its was successfully reassessed for compliance with requirements of ISO 9001:2000 quality standard.
On December 19, 2006 the company was issued registration certificate stating that it had been assessed and registered by international certification agency, Total Quality Certification Services International Pty Ltd., as the entity capable of managing the service quality in compliance with quality management requirements of ISO 9001:2000 standard.
Ateshgah IC is also the first insurance company in Azerbaijan to have established entities to provide technical and medical assistance services.
CE: Due to rapid development in regions, are you planning to open new branch offices?
Intigam Huseynov: Opening branch offices in the developing regions of Azerbaijan is Ateshgah's strategic objective. The company actively works on studying regional demand for individual insurance products and plans opening of branch offices for the nearest future in most economically advanced regions.
CE: How would you assess the current insurance regulations of the country?
Intigam Huseynov: Effective insurance regulations need some serious revising and amending.
A sufficient experience of work in insurance field has been accumulated in Azerbaijan so far, and it enables to launch regulatory reforms and tailor them to the highest international standards.
We are pleased that the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Azerbaijan has been working hard in this respect. A new insurance law draft has been drawn up, and we suggest it satisfies Azerbaijan's insurance market requirements, allows make significant quality changes in the work of insurance companies and creates additional guarantees of insurer rights protection.
CE: Could you share details on negative and positive aspects of Azerbaijan's insurance market?
Intigam Huseynov: Azerbaijan's insurance market is in its initial phase of development and a plenty of issues are still pending.
The need in reforms is mostly sensed in the areas of legal regulations for the insurance market and insurers' rights protection.
One of the main problems faced by the insurance companies is lack of trust among the population and insurance system as a whole. Namely for this reason throughout the whole time of operation Ateshgah IC has been participating, even many times performed with, public and governmental incentives concerning improvement of people's insurance awareness and trust in insurance companies.
We have a great hope that joint efforts of the entire insurance community of Azerbaijan and our active participation will bring Azerbaijan's insurance market to the level comparable with economically developed countries, and in the near future.