site.btaOlympic Insurance Policy Holders "Park" Cars in Front of Parliament in Protest

ESD 17:26:31 18-08-2018
DD1724ES.106
106 ECONOMY - INSURANCE - OLYMPIC - PROTEST

Olympic Insurance Policy Holders
"Park" Cars in Front of Parliament
in Protest


Sofia, August 18 (BTA) - Holders of policies from the bankrupt Cyprus-registered Olympic Insurance Company Ltd. gathered in front of the Parliament building on Friday night. They threatened to leave their cars there after their motor third party liability insurance lapsed automatically at midnight.

Some 200,000 Bulgarians holding the compulsory insurance from Olympic must take out a policy from another insurer for their own account, although they were insured by the Cyprus-based company which was licensed to operate in Bulgaria.

Less than 100 people, mostly from the western town of Pernik, gathered in the square in front of the Parliament building and stopped at midnight sharp, demanding adequate compensation. Police security was beefed up.

The protest ended 40 minutes after midnight.

Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) Deputy Chair Ralitsa Agayn, who is responsible for insurance supervision, told a news conference on Friday that Olympic's Bulgarian branch owes 9.35 million leva to 197,551 Bulgarians for early termination of their motor third party liability insurance policies. Bulgarians have bought Olympic policies worth nearly 40 million leva but the drivers' losses will be smaller as many policies were payable in instalments, she said.

On May 10, 2018, the FSC prohibited Olympic's Branch in Bulgaria from concluding new contracts after it was informed about the insurer's problems by Cyprus' Insurance Companies Control Service.

Spanish national Diego Gonzalez Alonso is the sole owner of Olympic's capital, said Agayn, adding that he is not connected with Bulgaria and the region in any other way. Olympic operated only in Cyprus and Bulgaria.

Thus she disproved allegations by former counter-intelligence director Atanas Atanassov that Bul Ins owners, the brothers Krassimir and Nikolai Marinov, are the real owners of Olympic. The brothers were bosses of former strong-arm SIC group, which used insurance as a front for various illegal activities.

Agayn promised the FSC would look into the procedure that needs to be followed by the holders of terminated policies. After the court in Cyprus pronounces on the liquidation and a trustee in bankruptcy is appointed, they can claim their money from the Cyprus guarantee fund. Olympic's contribution to the Bulgarian Guarantee Fund remains to be checked.

Traffic police will refrain from fining drivers with an invalid Olympic insurance policy for a few days. LN/DD
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