May 1998

by Padraic J. Sweeney

How to improve conditions for insurance and leasing in Russia was the focus of the recent meeting of the U.S.-Russia Business Development Committee's Banking and Financial Services Subgroup, held April 21 in Washington, D.C. Representatives from interested U.S. businesses and a number of U.S. Government agencies heard from business participants on the conditions for insurance and leasing in Russia. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce Everette James, who co-chairs the Subgroup with Russian Deputy Minister of Economy Vyacheslav Morgunov, reported on the Subgroup's 1998 Work Program, which was adopted April 1 in Moscow. The work program calls for several regulatory and training events in 1998. For the first event, a delegation of insurance experts will travel to Moscow for a roundtable on the Russian insurance market during the week of June 8.

Private-sector participants noted that despite a growing awareness of insurance and lease financing in Russia, there seemed to be very little knowledge of how these key financial tools work in practice. Without this knowledge, they observed, it will be very difficult to implement legal and regulatory reforms. Participants identified training for Russian managers, insurance regulators, government officials, and Duma members as essential to meeting the Subgroup's 1998 goals. For more information on the Subgroup, contact John Crosson of the Commerce Department's Office of Finance, at 202-482-0351.

Padraic J. Sweeney covers finance for BISNIS.

This report is provided courtesy of the Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States (BISNIS)