Russian insurers use government’s help to return to Kazakh reinsurance market. Russian insurers
asked Russian Mikhail Fradkov to assist liquidation of barriers for Russian insurance companies on
Kazakhstan’s re-insurance market. According to new regulations imposed Jul 1, NBK and Financial
Regulation Agency allowed Kazakh insurance companies to re-insure risks abroad only if the reinsurance
company has a rating not lower than A3 from Moody’s scale or A- from S&P, Fitch, AMB or
the highest sovereign rating (which is ruAA in Russia by S&P’s scale). In the opinion of Russian Union
of Insurers’ chairman Alexander Koval, the newly adopted Kazakh regulation violates principles of
Common Economic Area creation. Besides, Russian insurers lost the opportunity to re-insure not only
Kazakh risks, but also Russian companies’ risks in Kazakhstan. The most active players on the Kazakh
re-insurance market were 5 Russian companies, of which only one (Ingosstrakh) will be able to
continue its activity there. Russian insurers say that the situation is not favorable for Kazakhstan, which
lost part of its re-insurance market. However, they do not try to raise their ratings, noting that the
process is long enough and might take more than a year.