Russia looking to insurance for agricultural weather risks

Russian newspapers are reporting that their government has been discussing plans to save the country’s agricultural industry from drought risks. The Russian government want to shift the burden of agricultural weather risk to the private sector and insurers in particular.

The Agricultural Ministry have issued a paper on state-supported agricultural insurance and it will soon be discussed in their parliament.

Drought and other climate change risks can easily be covered through index-based weather risk products. This would seem a good opportunity for insurers and reinsurers already involved in weather risk management and hedging to get involved in a new territory.