The NAIU office, together with the members of the Association, continues the path of research and development.

One of the areas of activity of the Association is informational, advisory, methodical and organizational support of its participants, as well as promotion of improvement of their qualifications and level of professionalism.

We are interested in the professionalism of our members, which is a guarantee of high-quality services for clients of insurance services, and we are glad to use the potential of the Association’s employees to help with this. Consolidating the expertise of the staff of the NASU office, the Association provides methodological support to participants and is currently concentrating on preparing for the new Law of Ukraine “On Insurance”.

Yesterday, July 5, the NAIU office held an exclusive seminar for its participants on the implementation of Section 13 of the new Law of Ukraine “On Insurance”. At the meeting, all novelties of the new law regarding the structure and content of insurance products, as well as requirements for pre-contractual activities, were presented in detail. Special attention was paid to the internal policies of the insurer, which are related to the development, implementation and sale of insurance products, the general conditions of the insurance product and information about the standard insurance product.
Examples of the implementation of similar norms in the European Union and banking legislation were given. During the preparation of the seminar, the norms of the new Law, projects based on the NBU regulation concept, European directives, and best practices in the field of pre-contractual activities were analyzed and used. In addition to the seminar, the participants were provided with materials with detailed methodological recommendations.

The seminar was prepared and conducted by NAIU experts and aroused wide interest among the Association’s participants. Among those present were managers of insurers, underwriters and methodologists, managers and sales specialists, auditors and lawyers. At the end of the seminar, there was a lively discussion on some practical issues of implementing the requirements of the new Law.
The holding of the seminar was a continuation of a series of measures implemented by the NAIU office to support its participants within the framework of the implementation of the new Law of Ukraine “On Insurance”, which will enter into force on January 1, 2024. Given the interest of the participants in the event, the Association is already preparing materials for the next meetings, and the seminar on pre-contractual activities will be held again for the participants who did not join yesterday.
NASU does not stop and continues to implement the best practices in the insurance market and to contribute to the development of a solvent, stable, competitive insurance market in Ukraine with proper protection of the rights of consumers of insurance services.

The National Association of Insurers of Ukraine is constantly working in the areas jointly determined by the Association’s members. The ongoing large-scale war undoubtedly has an impact on the activities of insurers, but it does not cancel the plans of the companies and the Association.

Like every other company in Ukraine, the NAIU insurers are also affected by the war and operate in a war-time environment. However, the association’s members are a community that is able to study and define the place of insurance in war reality, not only adapting to but also influencing the course of events.

Today, the association’s insurers have taken part in an exclusive workshop “Demand for War Risk Insurance: A Joint Dialogue”.

The event, which was jointly organised by UNIQA Ukraine and the NAIU, brought together key players in the insurance market, uniting insurers and insurance brokers. The participants gathered to discuss and identify the unique needs of the market, future demand and potential for war risk insurance in Ukraine. The level of expertise of the event was determined by the keynote speaker Jake Hernandez. Jake (CEO of AnotherDay, a subsidiary of Gallagher) is an internationally recognised consultant in political and security risk and crisis management, with extensive experience in a variety of complex jurisdictions, including Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Syria and Ukraine.

Among other things, the professionals discussed the nature of losses observed since the beginning of the war and the types of war risk insurance that may be most in demand, as well as the specifics of possible insurance coverage and the amount of insurance amounts. Particular attention was paid to the role of the international reinsurance market in supporting Ukrainian business and ways to access reinsurance coverage from local insurers and brokers.

We are confident that the results of the joint work of the NAIU Office and its Members in the field of war risk insurance will become a tangible element of Ukraine’s reconstruction, and insurers will become reliable partners of Ukrainians and the state on the path to recovery.

The NAIU does not stop and continues to implement best practices in the insurance market and to promote the development of a solvent, sustainable, competitive insurance market in Ukraine with proper protection of the rights of insurance consumers.

Today, on 27 June 2023, Denis Yastreb, CEO of the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine, met on a live broadcast with the hosts of the Kyiv Morning Show on Radio Kyiv – 98 FM. The main topic of the conversation was the insurance of cars and homes of Ukrainians against war risks, namely the consequences of russian missile strikes and the fall of missile fragments on the property of citizens.

The chairman of the association of insurers assured that such risks are accepted for insurance, and insurers already have a practice of settling such cases. Unfortunately, civilians and their property across Ukraine suffer every day as a result of russia’s armed aggression, so insurers have expanded their coverage to include war risks. In order to insure such risks, it is necessary to contact the insurer and additionally include war risks in the existing insurance coverage, as such risks are usually excluded in standard insurance products.

The participants of the radio programme discussed in detail what actions should be taken by the owner of war risk insurance in the event of damage or destruction of real estate or a car.

Denis Yastreb drew the listeners’ attention to the fact that there are some exceptions to the war risks coverage, in particular, losses in the temporarily occupied territories or in the territories where active military operations are taking place will not be covered.

Thanks to the initiative of Radio Kyiv – 98 FM, Kyiv residents received practical and useful information from the NAIU on how to protect their cars and property in the difficult conditions of increasing missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

The Association welcomes such media initiatives and is ready to continue to use the expertise of the NAIU Office to make insurance more accessible to Ukrainians.

Together, we will withstand, repair and rebuild a strong, European Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine!

Health insurance is one of the most popular types of insurance in the world and is a leader in the Ukrainian insurance market.

Voluntary health insurance is one of the types of insurance that remains relevant in wartime and remains among the factors that help the insurance market maintain its performance.

Health insurance is part of the post-war recovery plan for Ukraine, which will help rebuild our country.

The issue of voluntary health insurance has traditionally been a priority among the tasks of the NAIU. The leadership positions of the NAIU members, which together provide more than 80 percent of the total volume of Ukrainian health insurance, as well as the work of the association’s office, jointly provide the level of expertise required to develop changes that will balance the interests of Ukrainians, the state and business.

Today, VHI exists in Ukraine primarily as a corporate type of insurance (employers enter into insurance contracts for their teams), and there are also separate individual insurance programmes for individuals. Stable demand from the population, insurers’ capabilities, and the transition of the healthcare system to electronic interaction can create preconditions and opportunities for scaling up and popularising health insurance, overcoming some existing obstacles.

Continuing the cooperation between the state and the NAIU, the Chairman of the Association Denis Yastreb and professional representatives of insurers participate in working groups under the Committee on National Health of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Fruitful and intensive work is underway within the groups, the expected results of which should include, in particular, the possibility of electronic interaction between insurers and healthcare facilities, the use of electronic medical documents by insurers, a public database of generalised medical protocols in a digital machine-readable format, a mechanism for recording, analysing and controlling medical prescriptions and a mechanism for feedback to healthcare facilities and doctors on the quality and validity of prescriptions, tax changes, and other equally expected reforms.

The process of organisation, composition of participants and progress of the working group’s work, which is ensured by the head of the working group, MP Dmytro Gurin, member of the Committee on National Health of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, can serve as an example of professionalism and productivity. Confidence in the effectiveness and efficiency of such work is also given by the composition of the institutions involved – MPs, representatives of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the NBU, the National Health Service of Ukraine, state-owned enterprises and institutions that ensure the interaction and implementation of certain products, the state bank, representatives of related business segments, NGOs and business associations.

The NAIU does not stop and continues to introduce the best practices in the insurance market and to promote the development of a solvent, sustainable, competitive insurance market in Ukraine with proper protection of the rights of insurance consumers.

A proactive stance, involvement in changes and planning are part of the activities of the NAIU community.

Reforms to the market of compulsory motor third party liability insurance are also in the focus of insurers’ attention.

Participation in the creation and development of a new draft law, development of analytical materials on the impact and implementation of innovations, and predictive modelling of the impact of the new terms of compulsory MTPL insurance are the projects currently underway at the NAIU in the compulsory insurance market.

Another related project, which is part of the ecosystem of the updated compulsory MTPL market, is the Vision of the future of the insurers’ association – Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) and the way to it.

This is a common vision of members and office of the NAIU, which will be implemented through joint efforts.

Download “Vision MTIBU”

For insurers, 2023 is not only the second year of a difficult war. It is also a year of preparation for big changes. Changes related to the implementation of many ideas of the White Paper “The Future of Insurance Market Regulation”, which should ensure the solvency, stability and competitiveness of the insurance market in Ukraine with proper protection of the rights of insurance consumers. These ideas are reflected in the new Law of Ukraine “On Insurance”, which comes into force on 1 January 2024. The market is also expecting important and much-needed changes to the legislation on motor third party liability. Both laws will be aimed at implementing the leading EU directives.

However, the transformation of the insurance market has already begun. One of the areas of this transformation is the transition to fully transparent ownership structures of insurers and the financial solvency of their owners. To this end, the NBU has been monitoring the transparency of insurers’ ownership structures since 2021. This monitoring and supervisory actions concerning insurers will continue, in line with the provisions of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies with the International Monetary Fund dated 24 March 2023.

The second area of transformation of the insurance market this year is the tightening of requirements for insurers’ assets by the Regulator. From the beginning of the second half of 2023, the NBU will no longer recognise land as an eligible asset when assessing insurers’ solvency. This will make insurers’ investment policies more conservative and, as a result, safer for consumers.

The third area of change this year is the transition of insurers to a new accounting standard for insurance contracts – IFRS 17. This standard should ensure that insurers better reflect their performance in their financial statements.

Insurers’ performance in the first quarter of 2023

Despite all the challenges caused by the war, Ukraine’s insurance market continued to recover strongly in the first quarter of 2023. Insurance premiums for risk insurance totalled UAH 8.9 billion, up 7.2% compared to the first quarter of 2022. However, this figure is still lower than in the pre-war Q1 2021 (-16.1%). The NAIU members are resuming their activities at a faster pace than the market as a whole, with their insurance premiums in the first quarter of 2023 already exceeding the same figures for the pre-war year by 3.1%. At the same time, it should be noted that the recovery of all insurers is uneven and depends on both the size of the companies and the structure of their portfolios.

According to the NAIU, the main drivers of insurance premium growth in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 were the following types of insurance: insurance of road vehicles (+UAH 365 million), MTPL (+UAH 320 million) and Green Card (+UAH 301 million). Together with v oluntary health insurance (VHI), these types of insurance account for 79.4% of the market.

The primary reason for the growth in insurance of road vehicles and MTPL insurance premiums is inflation, which has affected the cost of vehicles, car parts and repairs in general. The second reason is the recovery in the number of insured vehicles for these types of insurance.  

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 5 million refugees from Ukraine have been registered for temporary protection in Europe due to the war. Those travelling by car were required to purchase a Green Card insurance certificate, which is required to enter Europe. The volume of international freight and passenger traffic also increased. All this led to a sharp increase in demand for the Green Card.

Insurance payments for risky types of insurance in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to UAH 3.5 billion, which is 16.6% more than in the first quarter of 2022. UAH 2.7 billion was paid by the NAIU members. The largest share of insurance payments is accounted for by insurance of road vehicles. Insurance reserves increased to UAH 23.6 billion, which is almost 10% higher than last year. The main factor behind the growth of insurance reserves is a sharp increase in sales of Green Card (more than 2 times) since the beginning of the war, whose loss ratio has significantly exceeded the pre-war figures. The growth of insurance reserves means that insurance payments will increase in the following periods, as insurance reserves reflect the amount of future liabilities of insurers. Non-life insurers’ assets amounted to UAH 48.2 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2023, which is more than at the end of pre-war 2021. At the same time, this figure slightly decreased over the last quarter, due to the withdrawal of a number of insurers from the market. In general, insurers’ assets have a steady upward trend, which indicates an increase in the capitalisation of the insurance market.

The life insurance market, unlike the non-life insurance market, is recovering at a slower pace. The reason for this is structural changes in the labour market: under martial law, it is becoming more difficult for citizens to save for their future. People’s spending priorities are also changing. Life insurance premiums in the first quarter of 2023 decreased by 13.3% compared to the same period in 2022 and amounted to UAH 1.3 billion. In contrast to premiums, insurance claims increased to UAH 286 million. This is the highest quarterly insurance payout figure for the last 2 years, including pre-war 2021. As of the end of the first quarter of 2023, life insurers’ insurance reserves increased to UAH 17.6 billion and assets to UAH 21.3 billion. The share of NAIU members in the life insurance market by all indicators is more than 97%.

In difficult wartime, insurers continue to support Ukraine’s economy by paying taxes to the budget in a timely manner. Despite the fact that in 2023, income tax revenues are expected to decrease due to lower corporate profits, as stated in the estimates of the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policy, insurers have already paid UAH 383 million in income tax to the budget in the first quarter of 2023. This is the contribution of the insurance market to the financial support of our Victory along with the provision of insurance services that citizens, businesses and the state need.

More detailed information on the performance of the insurance market in the first quarter of 2023 is available on the NAIU website in the section ” Insurance activity indicators“.

Last Thursday, the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine held a working meeting with Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, Chairman and Member of the Committee on National Health, Medical Care and Health Insurance Mykhailo Radutskyi and Dmytro Gurin, representatives of insurers and insurance intermediaries.

The meeting was a continuation of the ongoing cooperation within the framework of the Memorandum of Cooperation to promote the development of voluntary health insurance in Ukraine for the costs associated with the provision of medicines and medical devices.

The NAIU, whose members are also leaders in the field of voluntary health insurance, is an active participant in promoting and improving cooperation between insurers and the state in the field of health insurance. In its activities, the Association consistently advocates the need for information exchange of medical data, simplification of the procedure for settling insurance claims, and the use of tax incentives for voluntary health insurance.  

At the meeting, Denis Yastreb, CEO of the NAIU, noted the active position of the Ministry of Health to engage insurers in healthcare financing and thanked Minister of Health Viktor Liashko for the Ministry’s willingness to publish open data that can also be used by insurers to improve insurance products, their accessibility and promotion.      

The participation of insurers in health insurance is part of the Recovery Plan for Ukraine, and the NAIU believes that insurers will be able to become reliable partners of the state not only in financing healthcare expenditures, but also in developing an adequate approach to the nation’s health, introducing evidence-based medicine and treatment protocols, reducing the population’s spending on medicines, and, undoubtedly, becoming an element of Ukraine’s post-war recovery.

A solvent, sustainable, competitive insurance market in Ukraine with adequate protection of the rights of insurance consumers.

This idea, reflected in the White Paper “The Future of Insurance Market Regulation”, became the principles around which insurers with different business models, premiums and shareholder countries united in 2020. The current association NAIU united companies that were members of the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine, the League of Insurance Organisations of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Insurance Federation, and those who were not members of the associations also joined.

It is the recognition and implementation of the principles that has been and continues to be a condition of cooperation for the NAIU.

It was decided to achieve the common goal by combining their experience and best practices, professing common beliefs in the formation of transparent rules of the game, and engaging professionals to provide expertise and formulate common positions.

This is not a cohort of like-minded people, but those who share a common goal – to develop and support a solvent, financially sound, competitive and stable insurance market that will ensure proper consumer protection and provide insurance services and products that meet the needs of citizens and the economy.

Currently, the NAIU consists of 28 insurers, each of which embodies these principles in their daily work. This is the association’s office, which is a team of experts that develops ideas and ways to implement them. And it is also the CEO Denis Yastreb, who is a moderator and ambassador of the principles and objectives of the united NAIU.

Throughout their work together, the NAIU insurers have been supporting the Regulator’s ideas, providing them with expert and practical elaboration, which together allows them to maintain a balance of interests and ensure future practical application. The Association has operational and objective market performance indicators, which are also used to achieve the effectiveness of the NBU’s regulation. We are confident that such a working professional synergy is a prerequisite and key to achieving the goals of the Regulator and insurers, and both parties need it.

Steps taken by the NBU to create an improved insurance market – the new Laws of Ukraine “On Insurance”, “On Compulsory Insurance of Civil Liability of Owners of Motor Vehicles”, requirements for solvency and reporting, corporate culture and transparency are steps that insurers are also taking together. Despite the novelty, the need for reflection, study, process adjustment and updated approaches, everyone understands and unquestioningly shares the need for change.

We did not stop our joint journey during the war. The NAIU insurers have survived, endured and are moving on. This is the result of our activities all the time before the full-scale war, as well as tireless work during it. From the first day, the NBU team did not stop communicating with insurers, and therefore the question “How are you?”, which supports each of us every day, was also relevant at the level of setting up business processes during the war. Information requests, chats, zooms, planning, and clarifications did not always take place from offices, but they were always effective for all those present. This interaction is also part of the market’s performance in 2022.

The NBU’s forced and unpopular steps are also difficult for insurers to implement, but the NBU’s activities to regulate the insurance market in Ukraine are in line with its stated goal, and therefore are shared and supported by the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine.

In achieving a common goal, it is extremely important to have mutual understanding. After all, we are aware of the “monsters” that any misunderstanding can create in these times of change and uncertainty.

The meeting of the NBU Board and insurers held on Wednesday at the National Bank is a continuation of the dialogue that has been started, joint steps towards transparency and mutual understanding, for which the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine is grateful to the National Bank of Ukraine.

The NAIU interacts with the NBU in a working manner on each of the issues related to the activities of insurers. This is a daily routine cooperation for the common result. This made it possible to shift the focus of the meeting from current issues to highlighting our own position and aspects that we consider necessary for the sustainable functioning of insurers:

  1. Coordinated work of insurers and the NBU on the development, adoption and implementation of regulations related to the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine “On Insurance”.
  2. Encouraging insurance through tax incentives, in particular for employers.
  3. Building a constructive dialogue between the management and supervisory bodies of the MTIBU. Formation of the structure of the MTIBU’s management and operation, taking into account the new Law. Ensuring such functioning continuously, including after the implementation of the new Law.
  4. Search for a model to simplify financial monitoring activities for risk (non-life) insurance.

CEO of the NAIU Denis Yastreb noted that in times of war, tools for detecting and identifying terrorists and war criminals are an important part of the state’s activities. The NBU has created and continues to improve an effective mechanism for preventing the influence of russia, belarus, and states supporting the criminal war in Ukraine. The National Securities and Stock Market Commission plans to use a similar tool by introducing a requirement for issuers of securities to inform the Commission about their relations with risky countries. According to the NAIU, the National Bank of Ukraine has greater opportunities to effectively use this mechanism, concentrating full information in the Regulator will avoid duplication of functions of state bodies and save resources of market participants.

Denis Yastreb also noted the desire of insurers to study the NBU’s law enforcement practice. He noted that each decision of the Regulator is studied by insurers to understand the approaches to regulation, supervision, licensing, and consumer protection. For companies, this is a tool for self-assessing the compliance of their own activities, an element of risk management, regulation and process development. Thus, the NBU’s coverage of relevant impersonal practices on its website will be welcomed by insurers and used for self-improvement.

The interests of consumers are an important component of transparent and fair business, and we treat them with the utmost responsibility and unquestioningly comply with the legal requirements for consumers of insurance services. And recently, the NAIU has launched a financial literacy project. It is really important for us that our clients are not only protected but also financially literate.

The meeting demonstrated the level of professionalism and depth of the Regulator’s understanding of the state and prospects of insurers. This awareness encourages us to work even harder, as it gives us confidence in the inevitability of the announced and expected reforms.

The insurance market is currently undergoing a stage of adaptation and transformation. Preparations for work under the updated legislation, crises of individual market participants, constant search for a balance of business interests and compliance with regulatory requirements are taking place in a time of war. However, insurers have no right to be a burden for the state, but rather an effective element of sustainable operation and economic recovery. We have to be resilient, honest, proactive and relentless in our work and reforms.

“Our common goal is Victory. Therefore, we have no right to non-transparency and insolvency,” the CEO summed up the position of the NAIU.

At the end of 2022, the Association took the initiative to extend the existing NBU regulations to insurers and to grant insurers the right to use signatures of individuals created on the screen of an electronic touchscreen device (stylus, finger, etc.) in their activities. In response to market needs, the National Bank of Ukraine proposed an updated vision of the use of digital signatures in financial services in March.
Together with the Association’s members, the NAIU Office worked on the draft NBU Regulation “On Approval of the Regulation on the Use of Electronic Signatures and Electronic Seals”, held meetings and agreed on the NAIU’s position.

As a result of the joint work, it was determined that it is important to distinguish between the tools for signing electronic contracts with electronic signatures, as described in the Regulation, and the method of conclusion provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On Electronic Commerce”.

It was also proposed to clarify the use of certain types of electronic signatures, for example, to allow employees to use their own electronic signatures with simultaneous confirmation of their authority, and to allow the use of digital handwritten signatures for documents created and stored by insurers for more than 10 years, etc.

The proposals of the National Association of Insurers are intended to improve and clarify the content of the Regulation without changing the overall concept of the document, as the Association believes that the draft law on the use of electronic signatures proposed by the NBU is timely and meets the needs of insurers and serves the development of the market.

Every day, our country follows the path of independence, while confirming the European identity of the Ukrainian people and the irreversibility of Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic course.

Every Ukrainian puts labor, mind, soul and life into this path.

Today, insurers have also taken a step that confirms our belonging to a large European community: The National Association of Insurers of Ukraine has been admitted to Insurance Europe, the European Federation of Insurance and Reinsurance.

We are grateful and proud to become part of a respected association that, through 36 member associations, represents 922,000 employees and more than 4,900 insurance and reinsurance companies of all types and sizes, accounting for about 95% of total European premiums.

The mission of Insurance Europe is to continuously draw attention to issues of strategic interest to all European insurers and reinsurers; to raise awareness of the role of insurers and reinsurers in providing insurance protection and security to society, as well as in promoting economic growth and development; and, as the expert and representative voice of the insurance industry, to promote the development of a competitive and open market in the interests of the European consumer as well as corporate clients.

Insurance Europe is the voice of the European insurance industry at the European and international levels, a fair and reliable partner and coordinator for institutions, policy makers and supervisors. In the regulatory process, Insurance Europe develops, promotes and defends the industry’s positions, which are backed by research and experience. Insurance Europe provides an infrastructure for the exchange of information and experience between members, and provides information and advice on issues of interest to the European insurance market.

Insurance Europe contributes to strengthening confidence in the European insurance sector, just as the NAIU contributes to strengthening confidence in the Ukrainian one.

The National Association of Insurers of Ukraine is convinced that membership in Insurance Europe is also an important step towards the proper implementation of European legislation in Ukraine. The experience, expertise, failures and achievements of Insurance Europe members can be used for the overall achievements of Ukrainian insurance.

In the short term, these achievements are seen in corporate governance, accounting and reporting, implementation of IFRS and Solvency, consumer protection and distribution of insurance products, financial monitoring and taxation, insurance fraud prevention and data protection, digitalization and cyber security.

The experience in cross-border motor insurance (Claims History Guidelines, International Sharing Agreement (ISA), participation in the International Convention on the Recovery of Stolen Vehicles (ICRV)) can be attributed to the medium-term horizon.

We are also confident that the issues that have not yet arisen for Ukrainian insurance will become relevant for us and will also be addressed jointly: climate change and the use of artificial intelligence, social dialogue, diversity and inclusion.

For its part, the NAIU is ready to provide the most up-to-date data of its members through the PRIMA data disclosure project, provide expertise and research on the Ukrainian insurance market, and ensure that regulatory and regulatory initiatives are tested and analyzed for their compliance with market realities and needs.

Like our European government partners, Insurance Europe unequivocally condemns the military actions of the russian federation to invade Ukraine and expresses its full solidarity with the Ukrainian people who are demonstrating incredible strength and courage in these most difficult times.

We thank for your support, respect and trust.

We are convinced that the expertise and experience, the desire for improvement and new results achieved by the coordinated work of the office and members of the Association will ensure worthy participation and representation of Ukrainian insurance in European insurance.

The NAIU is confident in this, as it is the national association representing the vast majority of the Ukrainian insurance market (including domestic companies and foreign companies), which is a prerequisite for participation in Insurance Europe.