YEREVAN, February 24. /ARKA/. Insurance companies “INGO Armenia” and “CASCADE Insurance” started the process of merging, informed Executive Director of insurance company “INGO Armenia” Levon Altunyan.

“The main goal of the transaction is that Armenian insurance market gets unprecedented large company with great professional potential which will provide insurance services on the world and European level”, he said Friday to the journalists.

Total amount of the transaction will be formed from the sum of the assets of two companies. Altunyan refrained to announce specific numbers, explaining that the process of merging has just only begun.

The companies “INGO Armenia” and “CASCADE Insurance” are close to each other by their spirit and working practices.

“They are two exclusively market companies not engaged and lobbied by political forces, which have been formed themselves”, he said.

Answering the question of ARKA News Agency, Altunyan said that completion of the transaction is expected by the end of the first quarter of 2012.

“This is a rather long process and we have a lot to do, including exchange of experience and practice, and merging of two staffs of these companies, as well as agreement of some issues with state and regulatory bodies”, he said.

Altunyan said that in the result of merging, the reorganized companies will form an agent network with improved service, a team of experienced and qualified insurance specialists, as well as solid consolidated financial basis.

He said that the company “INGO Armenia” will not make new deals on consolidation in the next year.

Speaking about optimal number of insurance companies for the Armenian market, Altunyan said that it is better to have more good insurance companies in the market.

“INGO Armenia” was established in 1997 as Closed Joint Stock Insurance Company “Efes”. In December 2003, 75% of shares of the company was obtained by the Russian company “INGOSSTRAKH” after which it was renamed “INGO Armenia”. Levon Altunyan (Armenia) is the shareholder of 25% of shares. Charter capital of the company is 750.9 million drams.

“Cascade Insurance” was registered on October 13, 2004 in Armenia. Currently, shareholders of the company are “Cascade Capital Holding” with 65% share and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development which obtained 35% of shares. –0--