GIC Perestrakhovanie LLC, Russia, the fully owned subsidiary of General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), has received a reinsurance licence from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR).
With this, the reinsurer would soon begin operations in the country. CBR has approved the licence, allowing commencement of all activities on a full scale.
GIC Re is the first reinsurer in more than a decade to be granted this licence. The company said this Russian subsidiary plans to commence operations soon.
Sanjay Mokashi, CEO of GIC Perestrakhovanie, said, “The market offers encouraging long-term growth for the reinsurance business as it is characterised by low rate of insurance penetration. The overall level of insurance penetration in Russia’s GDP is very low.”
GIC Re, he added, also plans to service the former Soviet Union and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries from the Moscow office.
Apart from Russia, the India's state-owned reinsurer is also planning an expansion in the Latin American market.
Besides Russia, the company is looking at the possibility of establishing an office in Brazil to cater to the South American market, Devesh Srivastava, CMD, GIC Re, stated.
GIC Re is registered as an ‘Eventual Reinsurer’ in Brazil from January 2009 and is now working to acquire the status of an ‘Admitted Reinsurer’ in that market.
Srivastava added that GIC Re has made inroads in all member nations of BRICS with the exception of China.
BRICS is an association of five major emerging national economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. GIC Re had established GIC Re South Africa, the wholly-owned subsidiary in 2014.
GIC Re has branch offices in Dubai and Malaysia, London. Besides is also has a presence in Afro-Asian region and is a leading reinsurer for several insurance companies in SAARC countries, Africa, South-East Asia and West Asia.
In 2018-19 GIC Re’s international business fetched Rs 13,265.79 crore ($1.87bn) in gross premiums.
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