“Since July 1, agricultural insurance in Russia has been significantly modified - it can become for each region one of the main elements of protecting agriculture in the event of an emergency in the region. This is a new stage in the development of the agricultural insurance system as a partner of the state in protecting the agro-industrial complex, ”said the President of the National Union of Agricultural Insurers Korney Bizhdov, commenting on the changes in the law on state support for agricultural insurance, which came into force on that date.
“According to the adopted procedure, after the entry into force of the law, by-laws and methodological acts regulating the new type of insurance should be adopted. The NSA, for its part, has already prepared all the documents that are necessary to change the regulatory and methodological base, including proposals for adjusting the insurance rules and other documents, and expects to complete their approval in the near future, - said the President of the NSA Korney Bizhdov. “Thus, farmers will be able to insure winter crops this fall against the risk of emergencies, including losses during the wintering period.”
“The main difference of the new type of insurance is that in order to receive insurance payments, the farm will not need to record all dangerous events and their impact on crops during the agricultural season together with the insurance company, and then determine the decline in yield. It will protect farms in case of loss of crops as a result of natural phenomena, if they are of a large-scale nature, affecting the whole region, ”emphasizes the President of the NAAA Korney Bizhdov.
At the same time, the fact of loss of crops or plantings will be established by the commission for the prevention and liquidation of emergency situations with the participation of the head of the agricultural organization and representatives of local authorities - but it must be confirmed by an act drawn up either by the insured and the insurer together, or by the insurer based on the results of monitoring carried out using aviation and space vehicles. “Thus, payments on the risk of emergencies will be significantly accelerated - there is no need to wait for the results of the harvest, and the procedure for determining the damage and registration of payments will be simplified,” said NAA President Korney Bizhdov.
Also, an insurance contract for an emergency risk must be concluded for an insured amount of at least 35% and no more than 50% of the insured value - that is, no more than half of the planned cost of the crop will be reimbursed. “The level of compensation under the emergency insurance policy is calculated in such a way as to compensate the affected farms for the cost of agricultural work. If the farm is interested in reimbursing the full value of the products lost due to the loss of crops, it can, as before, purchase a multi-risk crop insurance policy on the basis of state support, ”the President of the NSA emphasizes. When insuring landings in case of emergency, the sum insured must be at least 70% of the insured value.
“Another feature is that when insuring the harvest of 2022, including winter sowing this year and spring sowing in the future, the state will pay all insured farms 80% of the cost of the policy. Taking into account that the cost of insurance against emergencies is expected to be reduced by several times in comparison with the current crop insurance policy, these costs will be insignificant, which is especially important for small farms, ”said NSA President Korney Bizhdov.
“According to the NSA, since 2010, the emergency regime in connection with losses in the agro-industrial complex has been announced in Russia every year, the number of emergency situations varies from 9 to 43 per year, the maximum recorded area of affected crops reaches 13,3 million hectares per year. Over the next 3 years, agricultural insurance should provide a system platform to protect the agricultural sector from these risks, ”said Korney Bizhdov.
According to Federal Law No. 260-F3 "On State Support in the Field of Agricultural Insurance", in Russia, within the framework of a centralized system, state support is provided for insurance of risks in crop production, livestock farming and commercial aquaculture. Since January 1, 2016, a single all-Russian association, the National Union of Agricultural Insurers, has been operating on the agricultural insurance market with state support. Only insurance companies-members of the union have the right to conclude insurance contracts with state support; insurance is carried out on the basis of uniform standard rules for each insurance program.