A.M. Best has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to C++ (Marginal) from B (Fair) and issuer credit rating (ICR) to "b+" from "bb" of Lemma Insurance Company (Lemma) (Ukraine). A.M. Best has also placed the ratings under review with negative implications.

Because of the ongoing riots in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, state-controlled insurance company PZU decided to shut down two offices. This was announced on Thursday. The step was made after major Polish lender PKO BP decided to close its branches near Maidan, or Independence Square in the Ukrainian capital, where riots claimed the lives of at least 21 civilians.

In the past few years, one of the most important topics in agricultural insurance is the proper underwriting. Particularly difficult in the process of underwriting is that the objects of insurance are undergoing a process of development and therefore exposed to various risks during each stage. This is one of the main challenges in the agricultural insurance, as the main prerequisites of a correct underwriting are the right identification of the risk groups, of their degree of influence on the insurance object and the assessment of these risks. The final goal of the insurance underwriters is to determine the premium rate, which is calculated based on the amount of insurance coverage.

Planned rules by Ukraine's financial regulator require every insurer to adopt a risk management strategy, Forinsurer reported. The rules, approved at a recent regulatory meeting, are aimed at ensuring insurers' financial stability and preventing insolvencies. Insurers can choose and adopt a strategy that is suitable for them. The Ukrainian insurance market does not currently have a uniform approach to risk management.

Vienna Insurance Group A.G. is close to completing its takeover of Ukraine-based PJSC Universalna Insurance, a move that will expand its Ukrainian footprint to five subsidiaries, Xprimm reported citing Ukrainian news agency Forinsurer. The deal, estimated to cost around USD 25 million to USD 30 million, is expected to be completed in March 2014. Sources have said Allianz S.E. was also considering the deal but the plans did not finalize.

Bank of Cyprus announced it is selling its loss-making Ukrainian business to a subsidiary of the Russian giant Alfa-Bank Group, in a deal worth EUR 225 mln.

The Austrian Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) is nearing completion of the UNIVERSALNA Insurance Company acquisition, this way increasing its capital on the Ukrainian market to 5 subsidiaries, informs Forinsurer.

In 3Q2013, the Ukrainian insurance market totaled EUR 1.42 billion, 35.2% more compared with the same period of 2012 (EUR 1.42 billion), according to the figures presented by the local financial authority. The paid claims reached EUR 327.15 million, 7.6% less y-o-y.

The Kyiv-based AXA Insurance Company in Dec 2013 settled 3,887 insurance cases, paying out UAH 32.5 million in insurance claims, the insurer has reported on its Web site.

The Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) and Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau (PMIB) have signed an agreement on the protection of the rights of Ukrainians who enter the territory of Poland, the MTIBU has reported on its Web site. The agreement comes into force on January 1, 2014.

Gross written premiums collected by Ukrainian insurers in 1H2013 amounted to UAH 14.33 billion, which represents 49.6% more y-o-y. The life insurance market grew by 34%. The significant increase in GWP in the non-life segment related to changes in the Tax Code, which led to an increase in reinsurance operations on the domestic market (tax optimization of business entities).

The Kyiv-based PZU insurance company from October 2013 introduced an additional service to its insurance program for people going abroad - on the refusal by Poland to grant visas for trips to that country, if applications are made through the visa center, the company told Interfax-Ukraine.

A.M. Best Europe - Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating of B (Fair) and issuer credit rating of "bb" of Lemma Insurance Company (Lemma) (Ukraine). The outlook for both ratings is negative.

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has adopted the resolution «On amendments to Procedure and conditions for provision of state support to agricultural producers in insuring crops by reducing insurance payments (premiums).» The measure simplifies the procedure and conditions for providing state support for agricultural insurance.

The creation of the Ukrainian Association of Insurers as a self-regulating organization and the Empowered Insurer, the key shareholder of which will be the state, is foreseen in the proposals to the draft amendments to the law on insurance (new wording), which is being prepared for second reading, chairman of the subcommittee for insurance, MP Andriy Pinchuk, said at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on finance and banking.

Preventing and eliminating financial fraud in the agricultural companies from the CIS countries represents one of the main problems that the banking specialists have to confront when analyzing the credit documentation. According to bankers and international consultancy agencies in the former soviet countries, identifying such false data represents a challenge for the financial sector.

Health insurance could become mandatory in Ukraine starting 2016 if the Law Project proposed on April 5 is adopted, Vladimir DUDKA, Member of the Committee on Health System, Ukraine Parliament (Supreme Rada).

Ukraine's cargo insurance market expanded by 78% year on year in the first half of 2013 to 854.4 million Ukrainian hryvnias (USD 104 million), Forinsurer reported.

In 2013, the pace of the Ukrainian insurance market growth slowed: in 2012 the conventional risk insurance market in Ukraine grew by 5 percent, and the life insurance market expanded by 34 percent, and according to a consensus forecast of the Ukrainian Insurance Federation, growth in 2013 will be around 3 percent and 13 percent respectively, Ukrainian Insurance Federation President Andriy Peretiazhnko said in an interview published on the Web site of the federation.

Health Minister of Ukraine Raisa Bohatyriova has reported that obligatory medical insurance will be introduced in Ukraine in 2015.