EBRD, European Commission, Norway, Switzerland to launch war-risk insurance in Ukraine
MOSCOW. June 22 (Interfax) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Commission, Norway, Switzerland, the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund, and Ukraine signed a statement of intent on cooperation in relaunching the private insurance market in Ukraine at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.
The signatories will work “jointly with key market and public-sector stakeholders to develop a guarantee facility,” Ukrainian media quoted the EBRD as saying in a press release.
While the crisis has nearly closed this insurance market in Ukraine, making insurance available to private investors is key to ensuring the country’s resilience now and its successful reconstruction later, it said.
The United Kingdom has officially declared its support for initiatives on relaunching the private insurance market already underway, including the EBRD pilot, in which it set out guiding principles in this field, it said.
The signatories will consider the possibility of cooperation in establishing a Ukraine Recovery Guarantee Facility in partnership with leading international private-sector institutions in order to facilitate the private sector’s access to war-risk insurance services in Ukraine. “This would initially focus on trade but have the potential to expand to other segments of the insurance market,” it said.
“They will also explore leveraging donor support to re-engage Ukraine domestic insurance and reinsurance industries and their global counterparts, as well as creating a platform for dialogue among key public and private insurance market stakeholders to identify further areas where cooperation may be possible,” it said.
Norway declared the allocation of 25 million euros for investment insurance in Ukraine at the conference on Wednesday.
The UK also announced increasing its financing to 20 million British pounds for the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to help support more private-sector investments in Ukraine.
Owing to British financing, investors will enjoy broader access to MIGA’s SURE Trust Fund for Ukraine to reduce risks of investment in projects aiming to meet Ukraine’s immediate reconstruction needs.
The UK also announced the publication of a conference concept coordinated with international partners to eliminate the immediate insurance gaps and take measures to expand support for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Aon, a global professional services and management consulting firm, and Lloyd’s, the world’s insurance marketplace, also announced on Wednesday they would combine efforts with Vienna Insurance Group, a major player on the Ukrainian market, to expedite access to foreign reinsurance in order to support Ukraine’s recovery.
