On 25 December 2016, the Commission published a report on the Serbian insurance market, and announced its plan to draft an Insurance Block Exemption Regulation ("IBER"). Except where the specifics of the Serbian insurance market require otherwise, the regulation will be harmonized with the EU Block Exemption Regulation for the Insurance Sector.

Appreciating the fact that Italy is one of the most significant home countries of investors in the Serbian insurance sector and aiming to further enhance insurance supervision in Serbia, the NBS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Italian Insurance Supervisory Authority (IVASS). The document regulates joint actions and information sharing between the two supervisors, mainly in relation to members of Italian business groups 'Unipol' and 'Generali', i.e. two of the three largest insurers and two of the four reinsurers in Serbia.

For the January-September 2016 period, the aggregate GWP value of Serbian insurers was up by 10% on the year to RSD 66.7 billion (EUR 541 million), the data, published by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) indicated.

Serbia's central bank, NBS, said on Monday that state-owned Dunav Osiguranje [BEL:DNOS] remained the country's top insurer by premium income in the third quarter of 2016, although it saw its market share narrow by one percentage point year-on-year, to 26.6%.

"A positive trend of nominal insurance premium growth, which has lasted for more than a decade, continued into this year," it is how Dusko JOVANOVIC, Secretary General, Association of Serbian Insurers - UOS has characterized the Serbian insurance market's evolution in the first half of 2016.

Serbia's real GDP growth slowed to an annual 2.0% in the second quarter of 2016, from 3.8% in the previous quarter, the country's statistic office said on Wednesday.

The combined total premium income of Serbian insurance companies rose 16.6% last year to of 80.9 billion dinars ($720 million/656 million euro), central bank data showed. Non-life insurance made up 76.1% of the total premium income, down from 76.9% in 2014, while life insurance accounted for 23.9%, up from 23.1% in 2014, the data, published by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) last week, indicated. The premium income of the non-life insurance segment rose 15.3% last year, while that of the life insurance segment climbed 21%.

Generali Osiguranje Serbia has developed an innovative and unique product for our market which combines the classic life insurance policy with an investment in investment funds; the so-called unit-linked product.

UNIQA has signed a contract with the Olympic Committee of Serbia and became the official insurance of our Olympic team.

Serbia's competition council said it will examine the acquisition of the headquarters building of Serbia's diversified conglomerate Delta Holding by local Banca Intesa Beograd in order to determine the lawfulness of the concentration.

Gorenjska banka, a small private bank, has been recapitalised with EUR 13m, most of which has been provided by Serbian AIK banka, which has acquired a 13.9% stake to become the second-biggest owner of the Kranj-based bank.

NLB Banka is interested in developing the pension insurance market in Serbia, but conditions for that have not been created here yet, said Branko Greganovic, the chairman of the Executive Board of NLB Banka, who also added that the investment in that segment of life insurance depended on institutional conditions.

The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) has produced a Draft Law on the Protection of Financial Services Consumers in Respect of Distance Contracts (Draft) aiming to enhance the protection of financial services consumers in Serbia in respect of the provision of those services via the internet, through e-mail communication, by post or other means of distance communication.

In January-September 2015, the Serbian insurance market totaled RSD 60.6 billion (EUR 506 million), up by 18%, according to the data published by the National Bank of Serbia. At the same time, the value of paid claims increased by 10.6% y-o-y to RSD 22 billion (EUR 185 million).

Serbia's Banca Intesa Beograd said on Friday it has signed a deal to take over the headquarters building of local diversified conglomerate Delta Holding. Banca Intesa said in a statement that the move will help it to bring under one roof all business functions and create optimal working conditions for its employees.

During the official ceremony held in the NBS on 26 October, NBS Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic and the president of the Council of experts of the Insurance Supervision Agency, Klime Poposki, signed a cooperation agreement between these two institutions. The agreement regulates cooperation and exchange of information between insurance supervisors of the two countries.

Serbian diversified conglomerate Delta Holding said on Friday its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached 4.5 billion dinars (37.5 million euro) in the first nine months of 2015.

Serbian insurers ended 1H2015 with GWP amounting to almost EUR 341 million, 11.23% up y-o-y. In local currency, GWP amounted to RSD 41.1 billion, 15.85% more y-o-y. Paid claims increased by about 14%, to RSD 14.75 billion (EUR 111.8 million). In relative terms, the life insurance segment showed the best dynamic, with a 21.3% GWP growth, while indemnities paid for life insurance diminished by some 2.3%. Yet the life insurance business remains little, with an overall GWP volume of EUR 72.7 million.

According to the Central Bank figures, in 1Q2015 the total premiums collected by 21 insurance companies operating in Serbia increased by 27.15% in nominal terms to RSD 19.99 billion (EUR 166 million). Non-life GWP generated 78.39% of the total premiums, while the share of life segment went down to 21.61%.

The privatization process for Serbian insurer Dunav Osiguranje should start by the end of this year, local media reported on Wednesday, quoting a central bank official. Selecting a privatization adviser for Dunav Osiguranje by the end of 2015 will mark the beginning of the sell-off process of the insurer, news agency Tanjug reported, quoting the head of the directorate for supervision of financial institutions within the National Bank of Serbia, Djordje Jevtic.