Diversifying insurance market seen important for DCFTA

Diversifying the Moldovan insurance market is seen as a requirement in the context of negotiations on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU, the first round of which is scheduled for March 18-23, stated Vlad Stirbu, department head at the National Financial Market Commission, during a program at Radio Moldova. The share of life insurances on the Moldovan insurance market is rising slowly yet constantly, Sergiu Puscuta, the president of the Moldovan Insurers Union, told the same program. In 2011 this type of insurances accounted for 6% of the total and the upward trend is obvious. According to Sergiu Puscuta, the market of health insurances needs to be diversified as well. Private insurance companies could take over some functions from the National Health Insurance Company on a competition basis to improve the quality of health services. Concerning property insurances, Puscuta noted that unfortunately this issue is largely ignored and only remembered after disasters. Today the largest part of insurances in Moldova are the mandatory ones, and namely motor-vehicle liability insurance policies (43.4%). In 2011 the Moldovan insurance was valued at around 1 billion lei, up by 9.7% on the previous year.