VILNIUS - The chairman of the Lithuanian Insurance Super-visory Commission, Edvinas Vasilis-Vasiliauskas, refused to resign this week despite calls to do so from Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas for failing to handle the insolvency of a major insurance company.
Vasilis-Vasiliauskas' reportedly argued that he must ensure a smooth bankruptcy at Ingo Baltic, a Russian-controlled non-life insurance company.
However, Brazauskas' spokesperson, Nemira Pumpric-kaite, said that "the ISC chairman doesn't have much hope that the findings of the special working group will be favorable to him."
Brazauskas called for Vasilis-Vasiliauskas' resignation on Aug. 18 since the commission chairman failed to issue a timely warning about the approaching bankruptcy of Ingo Baltic.
The prime minister has established a special commission to assess the activities of the ISC and will wait for its conclusions, which should be issued on Aug. 24, before deciding whether to dismiss Vasilis-Vasiliauskas.
The commission reports on the domestic insurance market to the Cabinet twice a year.
The Vilnius regional court decided on Aug. 18 to start bankruptcy proceedings against Ingo Baltic.
Judge Rita Kiseliene said that the court's decision would take effect in 10 days unless appealed. "I don't think this decision will be challenged, because both the plaintiff and the defendant were of the same opinion about the bankruptcy of the company," she said.
Once declared bankrupt, Ingo Baltic's insurance policies, which were issued mostly for compulsory motor third-party liability, will be canceled, and its customers will have to buy policies from other insurers.
Ingosstrakh, a Russian insurance company, owns 55.6 percent of Ingo Baltic, while Baltijos Garantas, a Lithuanian insurer, holds a 44.3 percent stake.
Ingo Baltic posted losses of 4.6 million litas (1.4 million euros) in 2004, compared with net profits of 215,000 litas in 2003. The company held a 4.9 percent share of Lithuania's non-life insurance market in the first half of this year and ranked sixth among local non-life insurers.
