Ukrainian insurance companies in 2017 collected UAH 131.128 million of premiums through resident intermediaries, which is 48.4% more compared to 2016 (UAH 88.366 million). According to a report on the website of the National Commission for Regulation of Financial Services Markets, the number of contracts signed through resident intermediaries for the period increased by 12.5%, to 4,240.
According to the regulator, of the total amount of collected premiums, premiums on personal insurance amounted to UAH 115.02 million, property insurance to UAH 6.9 million, mandatory insurance to UAH 2.25 million, life insurance to UAH 1.33 million, and liability insurance to UAH 5.621 million.
The amount of remuneration for the provision of such intermediary services for 2017 increased 56.7%, to UAH 9.199 million.
According to the commission, insurance premiums received by non-resident insurers under insurance contracts for the specified period amounted to UAH 3.497 million, which is 19.3% less than in 2016. Remuneration on 32 signed contracts amounted to UAH 619,500. The regulator said that during the reporting period insurance claim fee payments under the above contracts were not made.
Bulgaria’s Euroins Insurance Group (EIG), a large independent insurance group in the Central and Southeast Europe, is acquiring the Ukrainian travel insurance business of Munich Re’s Ergo – ERV Ukraine (Kyiv). “The companies have signed acquisition agreements. The deal is expected to be finalized after receiving approval by the regulatory authorities,” EIG said in a statement. The agreement provides for further cooperation between EIG and ERGO, including the transfer of know-how of ERV and the opportunity for EIG to sell travel insurance products under the ERV brand or a model of joint branding in Ukraine and other countries where EIG is present.
According to the release, ERV Ukraine is the second largest provider of travel insurance in Ukraine with a market share of 10.7%. In 2017, almost 627,000 customers were provided with the company’s services.
“The acquisition of the ERGO insurance business in Ukraine is in line with our strategy of expanding and diversifying our portfolio in Eastern Europe and strengthening our position as the leading insurance group in the region,” EIG said citing CEO Kiril Boshov.
According to him, ERV Ukraine will be kept as a separate company outside the Ukrainian EIG subsidiary Euroins Ukraine, in order to concentrate efforts on selling travel insurance products.
“We are very pleased that EIG has signed the acquisition agreement, including far-reaching sales cooperation, which helps us to enter new markets and make our sales even more powerful,” Chief Executive Officer of ERV Richard Bader, a travel insurance specialist at ERGO, said.
BULGARIA, EUROINS, INSURANCE BUSINESS, INSURANCE GROUP, MUNICH, RE'S ERGO
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Ukraine and Malaysia are working out plans to expand bilateral military and technical cooperation, and the Malaysian side shows its interest in procurement and joint production of a wide range of Ukrainian weapons, the press service of the Ukroboronprom State Concern reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, military and technical cooperation between Ukraine and Malaysia became the subject of negotiations between Ukroboronprom Head Pavlo Bukin and Malaysia’s top military leadership, which were held as part of the 16th Defense Services Asia 2018 (DSA) exhibition, which is taking place in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on April 16-19.
According to the report, Bukin, in particular, held a meeting with Chief of Army General Tan Sri Dato Zulkiple Bin Hj Kassim during which they discussed the possibility of supplying the Malaysian side with Ukrainian-made 4×4 combat vehicles. During the talks, the chief of the Malaysian army expressed his country’s interest in acquiring Ukrainian ATGMs from Luch Design Bureau. At the same time, the sides stressed the need to intensify the work of the bilateral commission on military and technical cooperation, the report says.
Bukin also held talks with Chief of Navy Admiral Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Hj Ahmad Badaruddin, during which they discussed the possibility of supplying to Malaysia the floating docks manufactured by Pallada Kherson State Plant, part of Ukroboronprom, as well as the possibility of establishing cooperation for their production with a Thai manufacturer.
In addition, as part of the exhibition, Bukin met with Commander of the Royal Malaysian Air Force General Dato Seri Affendi Buang.
“The sides discussed a range of issues on cooperation in the field of aircraft building. In particular, they talked about the possibility of supplying to Malaysia the Antonov airplanes with the possibility of localization of production facilities. A separate topic of the talks was also the possibility of supplying Ukrainian vertical take-off and landing UAVs to the Malaysian side,” the report says.
Philip Morris Ukraine, one of the largest tobacco producers in Ukraine, in February 2018 started shipments of Kharkiv Tobacco Factory’s products to Hong Kong.
“Now the Philip Morris Ukraine products made at the tobacco factory in Kharkiv region are sold in 13 countries, including Japan, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Albania, Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Persian Gulf. Since February 2018, we have been manufacturing products for the duty free zone in Hong Kong, having started with one SKU [stock keeping unit] – Virginia,” Philip Morris Ukraine Director for Corporate Affairs in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova Nataliya Bondarenko said at the third Kharkiv Investment Forum.
According to her, more than 40% of the company’s cigarettes are exported.
“Philip Morris Ukraine’s tobacco factory produces not only cigarettes, but also shredded tobacco, filters for other factories in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the European Union for export,” Bondarenko said.
Over $117 million has been invested in the construction and modernization of the factory, she said. At present, the production facility located on 32 hectares has a full production cycle and its design capacity exceeds 30 billion cigarettes a year.
“With the assistance of the government and the creation of the necessary conditions for business development, we can produce 20-30% more, developing at the international level as an export hub. Philip Morris Ukraine has temporarily suspended the development of export capacities in connection with a trial related to UAH 635 million,” she said.
Court proceedings were launched in May 2016 after the company’s tax dispute with the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, which accuses the company of violations in imports of raw materials and exports of cigarettes, as well as of the illegal use of the Marlboro trademark.
