Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva agreed to step up bilateral cooperation, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
“The two focused on urgent issues of the development of Ukrainian-Bulgarian relations in the political, economic and consular spheres, as well as the problems of protecting national minorities,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on its website on Tuesday.
Kuleba and Zakharieva also discussed measures taken by the governments of both countries to counter the spread of coronavirus. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine thanked the Bulgarian counterpart for the decision made by the Bulgarian government to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the form of protective equipment for Ukrainian doctors.
The foreign ministers exchanged invitations to pay bilateral visits.
Sopharma AD pharmaceutical company in January-June 2019 increased sales in Ukraine by 35% compared to the same period in 2018.
The company reported that, in general, in the first half of 2019, revenue from the sales to European countries rose by 13% compared with the first half of 2018.
The main reasons for sales growth in Europe are higher sales in Ukraine, as well as in Russia, where sales in January-June grew by 7%.
As reported, in 2014 Sopharma reduced sales in Ukraine by 37%, but in 2017 the company expressed confidence in the resumption of sales growth in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, Sopharma AD has been controlling PJSC Vitamins since January 2008, and in August 2012 it established the subsidiary Sopharma Ukraine LLC (Kyiv) to optimize trading business.
The Ukrainian airline SkyUp has launched flights from Kyiv to Yerevan, Varna and Burgas, according to the company’s website. According to its data, the flights will be operated with departure from Boryspil airport (Kyiv, Terminal F).
Flights on the route Kyiv-Yerevan from May 17, 2019 will be operated twice a week on Mondays and Fridays.
Kyiv-Varna flights from June 14, 2019 will be operated on Fridays, flights on the Kyiv-Burgas route from May 31 with a frequency of two or three times a week.
As reported, in 2018 SkyUp Airlines passenger traffic amounted to 442,000 people.
As of January 2019, SkyUp’s fleet included five aircraft: four Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft with 189 seats, and one Boeing 737-700 NG airplane with 149 seats.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov hope that the towns of Reni in Odesa region and Varna in Bulgaria would be connected by a highway.
“We have arranged that we would step up the issues of building a highway of the transport corridor between Reni in Odesa region and Varna [in Bulgaria] across Romania. I hope that the resources of the European Union will be on our side as well. We will also attract our Romanian partners. And we will do our best to ensure that in the near future you can drive from Odesa to Varna in a few hours,” Poroshenko told reporters on Saturday in Kyiv after the negotiations with the Bulgarian prime minister.
An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that Poroshenko showed a map, which the Bulgarian prime minister brought, indicating the route of building the transport corridor.
“The map, which the president showed, lacks the signature of the Romanian side. The construction of this road will not be very expensive. It could be public private partnership or a joint fund of three states,” the president said.
Euroins Insurance Group (Bulgaria), which includes Euroins Ukraine (Kyiv), in 2017 increased revenue by 19%, for the first time exceeding BGN 1 billion (EUR 512 million), and quadrupled net profit to BGN 42 million (EUR21.5 million), according to a press release from Euroins Ukraine.
It is also noted that in general the income of Eurohold Bulgaria AD, which includes Euroins Insurance Group, in 2017 increased by 18% compared to the previous year and amounted to BGN 1.2 billion (about EUR615 million). Net profit increased by almost 2.4 times, to BGN 24.4 million (EUR12.5 million), while operating profit (EBITDA) by 65%, to BGN 57.6 million (EUR29 million).
The holding’s net worth as a whole increased to almost BGN 215 million (EUR110 million), while its assets grew by 17%, to BGN 1.33 billion (EUR681 million).
The press release says on April 17, 2018 Euroins Insurance Group purchased Ukraine’s European Travel Insurance (ERV) from the German company ERGO, owned by MunichRe concern.
PJSC Euroins Ukraine has been operating in the Ukrainian insurance market for 25 years. The regional network of Euroins Ukraine covers 26 cities of Ukraine. The weighty share in the company’s portfolio is occupied by KASKO, which is one of the priority activities. The strategy of Euroins Ukraine foresees occupying 5-10% of the Ukrainian insurance market.
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
