The Latvian insurance market will continue to grow this year, with GWP growing by about 3-5%, according to Janis ABASINS, President of the Latvian Insurers Association and Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Motor Insurers' Bureau.

Marsh McLennan announced Moreland MURRAY as its Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer (CIDO). He continues in his role as Chief People Officer for the Company's corporate functions, reporting to Carmen Fernandez, Chief People Officer, Marsh McLennan.

For the period from January to November 2021, the number of MTPL contracts concluded in Ukraine amounted to 8.24 million units, which is 8.38% more y-o-y.

Pavel RUDENSKY has been appointed Vice President of RNRC (Russian National Reinsurance Company) for business development with the CIS. Mikhail SEPP, who headed this RNRC business unit, has been appointed vice president for retrocession and sustainable business development, ASN wrote according to information from the reinsurer.

According to the National Bank, as of December 1, 2021, there were 27 insurance (reinsurance) organizations operating in Kazakhstan, their total assets amounted to almost KZT 1.78 trillion/EUR 3.60 billion*. GWP collected as of this date amounted to KZT 725 billion, liabilities - approximately KZT 1.05 trillion (including KZT 871.26 billion of insurance reserves), Allinsurance.kz writes citing inbusiness.kz.

According to the Bureau of Motor Insurers of Armenia, the number of vehicles with MTPL policy increased by 9.6% in 2021 (after a decline of 12.4% in 2020), however, it is still far from the pre-Covid growth of 18.5% in 2019, ArmInfo reports.

Moody's has assigned to the Export Insurance Agency of Armenia (EIAA) insurance financial strength ratings (Insurance Financial Strength Ratings - IFSRs) at Ba3 in foreign and national currencies, with a stable outlook, ArmInfo reports.

Lloyd's announced the appointment of Dawn MILLER as its Commercial Director reporting into Lloyd's Chief of Markets, Patrick TIERNAN. Dawn MILLER will take up the new position at Lloyd's in Q2 2022 and will be based in London.

Europ Assistance (EA), a subsidiary of the Generali Group, announced the acquisition of Slovenia-based company Call 365. Call 365 has been operating as Europ Assistance exclusive partner in Slovenia for 3 years, providing roadside and travel assistance services to Slovenian customers and travelers to Slovenia.

In January-December 2021, SberLife Insurance made 100.2 thousand payments for insured events under voluntary life insurance contracts of borrowers of consumer and mortgage loans, and total amount of paid claims reached RUB 11.687 billion (~EUR 0.14 billion*). The number of claims increased by 29.4%, and amount - by 42.3% y-o-y, according to the insurer's press release.

Cyber perils are the biggest concern for companies globally in 2022, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer. The threat of ransomware attacks, data breaches or major IT outages worries companies even more than business and supply chain disruption, natural disasters or the Covid-19 pandemic, all of which have heavily affected firms in the past year.

Polish insurance market totaled PLN 50.9 billion (EUR 10.9 billion) at the end of September 2021, up by almost 7% y-o-y, according to the quarterly market figures published by The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). Claims and benefits paid by local insurers increased by 2.9% y-o-y to PLN 30.2 billion or ~EUR 6.5 billion.

The Slovenian insurance market totaled EUR 2.03 billion in the first nine months of 2021, a 3.29% increase y-o-y, according to the Slovenian Insurance Association's Q3 report. In terms of paid claims, the aggregate value was ~EUR 1.18 billion, of which about EUR 387 million - life indemnities and EUR 803 million - payments related to non-life insurance sub-classes.

Croatian largest insurer CROATIA Osiguranje announced on the website of Zagreb Stock Exchange (Zagrebacka burza d.d.) that the General Assembly of the company adopted 18 January 2022 the decision on the election of Roberto Skopac and Hrvoje Patajac as members of the Supervisory Board of CROATIA osiguranje for a term of 4 years starting from the 24 April 2022.

Assicurazioni Generali informs that the director Romolo BARDIN, independent director and member of the Appointments and Remuneration; Investments; Strategic Operations; and Related Party Transactions Committees, has announced his resignation from the Board.

While European Commission's proposals for a Directive amending Solvency II include a range of helpful and necessary changes, they also include elements which would undermine the improvements and/or add avoidable costs, Insurance Europe said.

Lloyd's announced a new operational structure for the delivery of its transformational Blueprint Two programme following the departure of Lloyd's Chief Operations Officer (COO) Jennifer RIGBY.

French reinsurer SCOR announced the appointment of Yves Cormier as Head of Investor Relations, with immediate effect. Reporting to Ian KELLY, Group Chief Financial Officer, Yves will be based in London.

Bulgarian insurance market totaled BGN 2.44 billion (EUR 1.24 billion) at the end of September 2021, up by 12.7% y-o-y, according to the official quarterly figures from the Financial Supervision Commission - FSC.

According to the preliminary results of 2021, paid claims of VSK (one of the top-10 insurers) for all types of insurance reached almost RUB 37 billion (~EUR 0.44 billion*), and the number of settled claims was about 600 thousand, ASN wrote.