Austrian insurer VIG intends to become a Top3 insurer in the Ukrainian insurance market, and "is mulling the possibility of acquiring another risk insurance company", wrote the local business portal open4business.com.ua.

American International Group - AIG announced that Catherine DUFFY will join the company's General Insurance business as Country Manager of Bermuda, at a date to be determined.

JLT Re announced that Martin BLACKWELL will be joining JLT Re as a Partner, capital solutions, next month.

The newly established reinsurer UnipolRe has appointed Thierry PELGRIN as Senior Underwriter for France, DACH, Belgium (French Speaking Clients), Southern Europe & the CEE, reporting to Simon WIGZELL, Underwriting Manager.

Organized by the Insurance Supervision Agency of Slovenia (AZN), the 4^th annual conference with the title "Insurance in a Digital Future" took place today in Ljubljana - Slovenia.

The 62nd edition of the "Rendez-Vous de Septembre", the annual traditional meeting of reinsurers starts Sunday in Monte Carlo. XPRIMM Publications covering the CEE, SEE and CIS insurance markets are available at the XPRIMM stand in Fairmont Hotel, as well as at the most important venues in Monte Carlo.

On September 4, the Minister of economic development and investments of Armenia, Artsvik MINASYAN, discussed partnership in export insurance with the chief insurance officer of Malakut-Trade Credit Insurance, Audrius ROSINASI, and Magnus NIGZHET, a Swiss Re representative, responsible for the export insurance line in Armenia, said ArmInfo.

From the beginning of the year, selected insurers have forfeited licenses on some insurance activities. SALEM's license for voluntary insurance was cancelled on August 28. Additionally, the license for general insurance of Kompetenz was suspended for 6 months, wrote allinsurance.kz.

Hungarian insurers have reported consolidated GWP worth HUF 520.15 billion in 1H2018, by 7.1% up y-o-y. Yet, given the over 6% depreciation of the Forint against the European currency, the market results denominated in Euro show a total GWP volume of EUR 1.58 billion, only 0.6% up y-o-y.

Bulgaria's EUROINS Insurance Group (EIG) stated that it has acquired IC Group, one of the leading insurers in Georgia. The regulatory approval for the purchase agreement has already been granted.

"Various macro trends keep manifesting themselves: the digital age, longevity, ecological breakdown and increased protectionism are some of the key topics. While these changes can threat an established business model, macro trends can also be used to widen a commercial playground and explore different fields of profit," says Angelika WERNER, Expert Atmospheric Perils, Property Underwriting EMEA, Swiss Re.

The Serbian insurance marked ended the first half year with GWP worth RSD 52.18 billion (EUR 442 million), 6,8% up y-o-y. Due to the modest appreciation of the Serbian Dinar against Euro, the market results denominated in European currency show a higher growth rate, of 9.35%.

Huge losses in mandatory insurance have made it necessary to review license conditions for companies by introducing additional requirements to their solvency in line with EU standards, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has said.

AXA has announced on September 12 that it has completed the acquisition of XL Group Ltd, a leading global Property & Casualty commercial lines insurer and reinsurer with strong presence in North America, Lloyd's, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

The French group GROUPAMA (Groupama Assurances Mutuelles) has reported a combined premium income of EUR 9.5 billion, 3.6% up y-o-y, for 1H2018. Most of the premium income, worth EUR 8 billion, was provided by the French business segment.

Only 5% of cyber losses are insured, estimates Christian Fuhrmann, chief executive of global clients/North America, Munich Re. Very complex by nature and continuously changing, cyber insurance is one of the biggest challenges for insurers, he said.

QBE reported a statutory net profit after tax of USD 358 million, up 4% from USD 345 million in the first half of 2017 while cash profit after tax was also up 3% to USD 385 million from USD 372 million.

According to the Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan total paid claims went up by 27% to UZS 177.1 billion* in the first half of the year. With that, total GWP amounted to UZS 817.6 billion, 88% more than a year ago.

On September 3 this year, RGS Life changed its name to KAPITAL Life Insurance. This change will not have any consequences for clients. KAPITAL Life Insurance exercises its rights and retains its obligations under previously concluded contracts in full without restrictions, wrote ASN portal.

On September 7 S&P Global Ratings affirmed long-term and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign ratings on Kazakhstan at 'BBB-/A-3' with a stable outlook. The agency also affirmed 'kzAAA' as a national scale rating for Kazakhstan.