Insurance companies operating on the Romanian market are not afraid the direct entrance of the 25 European insurers will have a negative impact over their business, even though their number might get to 200 in the first year after EU integration.
"There are very many insurers that were just waiting for this moment to enter the market. Their impact on the market is quite difficult to assess because I don't know what they will do on the market and what insurance lines they will bring," says Tudor Moldovan, general manager with Generali. He believes European insurers will be able to gain significant market shares provided that they come with insurance lines that are not covered by Romanian insurers, yet. "If they come with products already present on the market, it's hard to believe they will have an impact. It is very much up to products, distribution network, customers, companies present on the market and portfolios," added Moldovan.
Dumitru Ceraceanu, ASIBAN general manager, is of the same opinion, but he warns, however, that Romanian players have to be on their guard about the competitive edges European insurers might have. "It's certain that presence on the market does not mean just presence. Though their market share will be small in the first year, this might change over the following years. They might have some pluses, such as a better IT system, a different know-how and policies we haven't covered," states Ceraceanu, who believes Romanian insurers' main competitive edge is they know the market, legislation and customers' behaviour better.
"It's true these notifications from insurers mean they will be able to sell directly, but we don't believe this is going to significantly change the structure of the market in terms of supply (...)," believes Marius Onofrei, PR manager with Allianz-Tiriac.
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