The rating agency "Expert RA" has placed under observation the rating of the insurance company VSK, 49% of which belongs to the holding company "Safmar Financial Investments" (hereinafter referred to as "Safmar"), follows from the agency's message. It states that the new status was established due to the decision of the Bank of Russia to sanitize Binbank , which belongs to the family of the owners of Safmar, the Gutserievs - Shishkhanov.

The “under monitoring” status means that it is likely that the company’s rating will be changed in the next three months, the agency indicates. On June 1, the insurer was assigned an AA rating with a stable outlook. Then the agency noted that VSK's solvency margin is 97.1% higher than the normative value, return on assets is 10.3%, and return on equity is 42.0%. In the message, the agency emphasized the high growth rate of premiums (11.2% for 2016 compared to 2015) and the high reliability of reinsurance protection (more than 97% of premiums transferred to reinsurance are accounted for by companies with an A rating from Expert RA or similar ratings from other agencies).

The reorganization of Binbank did not affect the activities of VSK, assured the main shareholder of the insurer Sergei Tsikalyuk (he owns 51% of the company). According to him, the insurer’s business is not connected with B&N Bank: “We have placed more than 50 billion in both deposits and securities. <…> In the same B&N Bank - only 500 million rubles. This is less than 1% of our allocated funds.” The insurer does not plan to take money from B&N Bank, he indicated.

Tsikalyuk assured that he had not thought about buying out the partners’ share, and there are no plans to change Safmar’s share in the insurer: “We have an agreement, I own 51% of the shares, all transactions with shares must be agreed upon with me. So far I haven't seen anything. My partners and I have not yet discussed this issue.” Tsikalyuk indicated that a board of directors of Safmar will be held on September 26, at which this issue may be raised.

On Thursday, September 21, the Central Bank announced that Binbank and Rost Bank will be sanitized through the Banking Sector Consolidation Fund. Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Vasily Pozdyshev said that not all financial assets of Safmar need rehabilitation - three pension funds (NPF Safmar, Doverie, Mospromstroy) and VSK will not be included in the reorganization perimeter.

The rating of the companies continues to be in effect, says Expert RA in a statement today, but “the agency takes into account the proximity of VSK and B&N Bank.” According to Expert RA, as of June 30, VSK had collected 30 billion rubles. (8th place in terms of the volume of premiums received, according to the Central Bank), the insurer’s assets amounted to 82.5 billion rubles, own funds - 18 billion rubles, authorized capital - 3.7 billion rubles.

"Expert RA" may change the rating of VSK due to the reorganization of B&N Bank