OREANDA-NEWS. November 08, 2011. The specialists of OJSC IC ROSNO took part in the 18th All-Russian Exhibition Selkhozprodmash held in Nizhny Novgorod. ROSNO experts consulted agrarians on the methods for minimizing business losses via insurance protection and on the opportunities for increasing the agricultural firms’ financial stability using the enactment of the new law on agricultural insurance, reported the press-centre of ROSNO.

This event was held for three days in late October in the Nizhny Novgorod Exhibition area. The All-Russian Exhibition Selkhozprodmash has been successfully held for many years, each year gathering together on one site the latest agricultural industry achievements. In addition, this exhibition has traditionally served as a venue for discussion of the agricultural industry’s performance results for the last season. The event was attended by over 50 largest enterprises of the Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd, Voronezh, Saratov, Yaroslavl Regions, as well as Mordovia, Dagestan, Ukraine, and Belarus. Along with the agrarian sector and food industry, among the participants of this exhibition were representatives of the finance and credit sector.

During all exhibition days, the event participants contacted ROSNO experts at the company’s stand on insurance protection issues and conclusion of agricultural insurance contracts. Last summer’s weather anomalies made agrarians to rethink their attitude towards insurance and consider choosing a reliable insurance company meeting its obligations. For example, in 2010, ROSNO paid agrarians under agricultural insurance contracts over 320 mln. roubles, whereas the lion share of these funds was remitted to the agrarians from Saratov, Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod Regions. In 2011, there is a significant growth in sales of crop insurance policies. Given the last summer’s unfortunate experience, many agricultural producers from Povolzh’e and other Russian territories shared their risks with insurers.

In Russia, agricultural insurance is not obligatory, yet the government, taking into account the importance of the agrarian sector’s development, supports the agricultural industry via subsidies and subventions. In July 2011, the RF president Mr. Dmitry Medvedev endorsed the Law "On State Support in Agricultural Insurance and Amendment of the Federal Law "On Agricultural Development".

"These legislative novelties will decrease the financial load onto the agrarians, who will be able to pay only a part of insurance premiums under insurance contracts. The second portion will be remitted to the insurer’s current account by the authorized body of the RF subject; this portion will be formed out of the budgetary funds in the amount of 50% of insurance premium under the insurance contract, based upon the agricultural producer’s application. Also, under the new law, the possibility of providing funds to support other agricultural production lines may depend on whether the beneficiaries-agrarians have an insurance coverage. Therefore, in 2012, agricultural producers will be able to purchase insurance protection on new, more interesting terms", underscored Mr. Alexander Yemelin, head of the Privolzhskaya Directorate of OJSC IC ROSNO.