MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 4, 2004 (from RIA Novosti's Viktoria Prikhodko) - The State Duma, or Russia's lower house of parliament, is looking into the numerous public complaints about the excessively high premiums introduced by the 1993 law on compulsory car insurance. The issue has been brought to the house's attention by Vladislav Reznik, a United Russia faction member in charge of the Duma Committee for Crediting Organizations and Finance Markets.
Speaking at today's Duma session, Reznik pointed out that every tenth complaint recently lodged with parliament by individuals and public organizations is about the car insurance law's heavy burden on the purse of low-income motorists.
With this in mind, the Duma has approached Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov with a request that he consider the possibility of bringing the insurance premiums down for the least advantaged population groups, such as the disabled and the retirees. It has emphasized the importance of establishing insurance premium rates on the basis of real statistics and accurate economic calculations.
