OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2009. SOGAZ Insurance Group has obtained accreditation as a reinsurance company with the insurance supervision service of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela SUDESEG (letter of accreditation RER-242), reported the press-centre of SOGAZ.

SOGAZ is planning to take an active part in provision of reinsurance coverage of the energy projects that are currently being implemented in South America by the Group’s strategic partners and clients. Special attention will be paid to reinsurance of risks related to the development and exploitation of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields, oil-and-gas pipelines, as well as reinsurance of various types of liabilities, etc.

Currently, SOGAZ is considering whether it is necessary to set up a representative office in Venezuela. Today, a lot of SOGAZ’s corporate clients, such as OJSC Gazprom, OJSC OC Rosneft, CJSC Zarubezhneftegaz, VNIIGAZ and other companies are operating in Venezuela. Russia and Venezuela have signed a number of agreements concerning joint development of the Orinoco Petroleum Belt. The preliminary estimates of the reserves of the Orinoco Belt amount to 235 billion barrels of heavy and extra-heavy oil. OJSC Gazprom owns licenses for prospecting and development of gas fields in the Gulf of Venezuela within the Rafael Urdaneta project (Urumako-1 and Urumako-2 blocks).

According to Vadim Yanov, Chairman of the SOGAZ Management Board, the Group’s list of strategic objectives includes expansion of its business on the international market and providing insurance coverage for the interests of the major clients and partners around the world.

“Close collaboration with overseas representative offices and affiliate companies of our strategic customers and partners, visits of the Group’s experts to the countries where the international projects are realized help to better understand the specific features of the local insurance legislation and technical details of the projects, provide comprehensive risk evaluation, and come up with the reinsurance conditions that meet the uniform corporate standards around the world”, says Vadim Yanov, “We continue to expand our presence on the post-Soviet territory, gradually strengthen our relationship with the SCO countries, entering the markets of Venezuela, Vietnam, Greece, Poland, India and other countries. We are also working to obtain accreditation in a number of South American states.”