Assistant Minister of Finance of Serbia Ognjen Popovic announced today that next week the Government of Serbia will adopt an action and operational plan for the implementation of the Capital Market Development Strategy for the period from 2021 to 2026, which envisages the establishment of a working group composed of representatives of the Government, National Bank of Serbia and finance institutions.
At the opening of the conference “Serbian Insurance Days 2021” in Arandjelovac, Popovic invited insurers to participate in the work of that body, whose role will be to monitor events on the capital market and to adapt to new situations.
He reminded that the broader goal of the strategy is for Serbia to develop a competitive, highly efficient, transparent and productive capital market, which is also key for the development of the insurance market.
“If you look at the current portfolio of insurance companies, only one percent are stocks, although the big reason for that is the lack of adequate market material,” he said, adding that expectations are that the share will reach double digits during the implementation of the strategy.
He pointed out that the strategy works in two directions – the establishment of attractive market material, through support to issuers, while supporting institutional and individual investors, through changing the regulatory framework and strengthening institutions.
He also reminded that the amendments to the Law on Insurance, which were adopted in April this year, solved the decades-long problem of social capital in some companies such as “Dunav osiguranje”, “Dunav Re” and “Triglav”, which equated them with other market participants.
He added that further application of the provisions of that law will have an indirect impact on the insurance market, but also on the capital market.
“Capital in these companies finally gets a title, which increases transparency and responsibility in business, and it is important that these shares finally appear on the stock exchange, that they are in the hands of companies, but also employees and former employees, thus growing the base of our retail investors,” he said.
Popovic believes that the insurance industry in Serbia and the region is “in a perfect position to experience the business renaissance that banks have experienced in the past 30 years in the next two decades,” Novi Magazin reports.
