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Saeima committee to motion for suspension of Baltijas apdrosinasanas nams insurer's license

BC, Riga, 18.02.2015.Print version
Saeima's Parliamentary Inquiry Committee in Latvia intends to motion for the Financial and Capital Market Commission to consider suspending license for the joint-stock insurance company Baltijas apdrosinasanas nams (BAN), the committee decided today, cites LETA.

Members of the committee took the decision after hearing a report by Martins Tols, CEO at the state joint-stock real estate management company Valsts nekustamie ipasumi (VNI), which said that BAN had still not covered the losses caused by major fire at the Riga Castle in June 2013.

 

No representatives from BAN were present at the committee's meeting today.

 

According to Tols, VNI had a meeting with BAN representatives three days ago, but the insurance company offered no constructive reply concerning the compensation for the damage - BAN's representative neither confirmed nor denied that the company was prepared to pay compensation.

 

According to BAN, the main reason why no compensation has been paid so far is that the guilty parties in the Riga Castle fire case have not yet been established, Tols added.

 

Although VNI is not insisting that BAN pay the compensation immediately, VNI is considering taking BAN to court.

 

The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee member Gundars Daudze (Union of Greens and Farmers) said that VNI should turn to the Financial and Capital Market Commission to demand that the license issued to BAN be revoked, as the business practices of the insurer were clearly not in line with best management practices.

 

MP Janis Adamsons said that the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee could turn to the Financial and Capital Market Commission as well as to the Finance Ministry, asking the authorities to look into the insurance company's conduct.

 

In the given circumstances, BAN should have promptly compensated the damage sustained by the Riga Castle, and then have the amount collected from the guilty party as per the law. "BAN's actions were incorrect, to put it mildly," said Adamsons.

 

The committee could send the letter to the Financial and Capital Market Committee and Finance Ministry on Monday, February 23.

 

As reported, Estonian experts hired by VNI concluded that the fire started in that part of the Riga Castle where construction workers were working, and that the fire was caused by a spark, a smoldering cigarette butt or other source of open fire.


BAN previously told LETA that it was waiting for official conclusions about the cause of the fire. Once it becomes clear, it will also be clear if insurance compensation has to be paid, said BAN board member Ugis Ievins.

 

The fire at the Riga Castle on the night of June 21, 2013, destroyed an area of 3,200 square meters in total. According to VNI's estimates, the restoration of the edifice will cost EUR 6.12 million.






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