Finance Ministry to approve a new issue of shares by Rosgosstrakh
Alexei Rozhkov
The Finance Ministry is ready to okay a proposal by Rosgosstrakh's private investors to issue new shares. The final say lies with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The Finance Ministry will offer Putin two options for Rosgosstrakh, a ministry source told Vedomosti. According to the source, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin held a meeting last week to discuss the matter, at which it was decided to send the Prime Minister a memorandum describing the two choices.
An official who attended the meeting added that both choices provided for the issue of stock worth 32 billion roubles. The difference is that in one case, the state would take part and contribute eight billion roubles, and in the other, the entire sum would be paid by private investors - Rosgosstrakh General Director Daniil Khachaturov and his partners. The one to decide must be Putin after he receives this week's report, the official said.
Ilya Lomakin-Rumyantsev, head of the Russian Federal Agency for Insurance Supervision (Rosstrakhnadzor), told Vedomosti that the Finance Ministry had asked his agency for information about the sum required by Rosgosstrakh. He said the figures were provided but refused to reveal the details.
A month ago, Khachaturov wrote a letter to Kudrin, urging the Government to act quickly. Rosgosstrakh's current capital, he said, totalled 17.2 billion roubles as of October 1, 2008, but only 4% of that sum was liquid assets, with the rest making up the group's internal loans. By October 1, its external debt had reached 12.3 billion roubles, and accumulated losses, two billion roubles. A falling stock market, whose tools were used to keep insurance reserves, is expected to lose Rosgosstrakh another three billion roubles in investments. All in all, Khachaturov summed up, the company needed 43 billion roubles. He suggested the Government contribute 11 billion. The rest, he said, would be provided by private shareholders, but did not name them in his letter.
Investors say they have the money to increase the capital, and it was not internal loans or other surrogates, said the official who attended the meeting chaired by Kudrin. He believes the Government should keep its stake in the capital and take part in the new Rosgosstrakh issue. The official did not name the sources. The 2009 budget does not provide for increasing Rosgosstrakh capital. Khachaturov, representatives from the Finance Ministry and Rosimushchestvo (Federal Agency for the Management of Federal Property), and a government press service spokesman declined to comment.
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ROSGOSSTRAKH
RUSSIA'S BIGGEST INSURANCE GROUP WITH RESPECT TO FEES
CO-OWNERS: Daniil Khachaturov and his partners (75% minus 4 shares), the state (25% plus 4 shares). Financials (Russian Accounting Standards, 2007):
INSURANCE PREMIUMS (including mandatory health insurance): 53.5 billion roubles
BENEFIT PAYMENTS: 24.7 billion roubles
ASSETS: 85.9 billion roubles
NET EARNINGS: 2.7 billion roubles