Interviews
Michael HAAS, Head Client Management L&H ACEE, Swiss Re - Claudia SZWILLUS, Underwriting Manager L&H CEE, Swiss Re
Swiss Re enhances its services for the Russian L&H insurance market. The reinsurer's clients in the region will benefit from the Group's leading underwriting manual in local language
11 January 2022VIDEO: Interview with Marijan MUMDZIEV, CEO, AMODO
Insurance consumers' preferences are now shaped by the other industries, insurance providers being compared not only to their peers but to whoever sets the benchmark for a great experience in their lives, believed Marijan MUMDZIEV, CEO, AMODO. In the interview given to XPRIMM he talked about the role digital technologies play in enabling insurers to provide their customers the best possible experience.
9 December 2021
Mira Kiridzic-Bugler,Market Head ACEE (Austria, Central & Eastern Europe)
Christian Kreutzer, Market Head & Transactions Lead, Northern, Central & Eastern Europe
The insurance protection gap is a worldwide topic. In CEE countries, salary level and missing trust in insurance are additional factors that contribute to a low insurance penetration. Raising public awareness for the value of insurance is an important task that we are working on closely together with our clients. I also expect that the demand for insurance will grow, as we will experience such events more frequently in the future. On the other side, insurance products need to become simpler and easier to understand with short and transparent conditions.
25 November 2021David ONOPRISHVILI, Chairman, Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia
24 June 2021Irina MERZLIAKOVA, General Director, Belarusian Association of Insurers
10 June 2021Paata LOMADZE, CEO, GPI Holding
27 May 2021Alexandru CIUNCAN, General Director of UNSAR - National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in Romania.
Financial education can help us all better understand how financial market mechanisms work and be better prepared for the challenges of the present. It is very important that any consumer understands as well as possible how insurance works, and the expectations to be closer to the promise made by the policy.
18 March 2021Julia KHMELNITSKAJA, Deputy CEO Willis CIS
Beginning of 2021 already showed same uncertainity. At the macro level this is as regards economic recovery with some hopes for the brighter future though as vaccination started. 2021 will be core for development and actual reimbursement of COVID-19 related claims.
11 March 2021Oleg KHANIN, Chairman of the Board of the Insurance Company Kommesk-Omir JSC.
The pandemic has prompted digitalization to become a key industry trend in the upcoming years. In addition, the new reality of 2020 has stimulated insurers to create new products in health insurance (coronavirus insurance, telemedicine, critical illness insurance), as well as insurance programs against business interruption, cyber risks, financial losses.
4 February 2021Lukas HERRMANNS, Chief Executive Officer of Marsh Germany and CEE, Marsh
We don't have the duty to sell predefined products or to deliver a certain combined ratio as an expectation from the shareholders. That is why we can specifically tailor THE risk concept which fits the most to our clients' needs. We frequently see our clients' value and require our advice which does not necessarily lead into placing a cover for them but can be an advice on how to minimize the risks of a company.
28 January 2021Emmanuel DJENGUE, Global head of "The Young Global Insurance Network Project"
We must generate an emotional connection between young talent and their workplace. Doing this successfully will make the current workforce promotors.
14 January 2021Elisabeth STADLER, CEO, VIG - Vienna Insurance Group
It is thanks to the broad diversity of the VIG Group and the strong start to 2020 that we were able to record an increase in premiums of 2.4% in the first half of 2020 and a profit before taxes of 200 million euro. Operationally, we currently see ourselves in a position to manage the effects of COVID-19 for the insurance group. [...] We are cautiously optimistic as the forecasts expect a strong recovery of economic activity between Austria and the CEE region in 2021.
7 January 2021INTERVIEW: Michaela KOLLER, Director General, Insurance Europe
It is up to the EU institutions to ensure an appropriate regulatory framework is in place that enables innovation and allows consumers, established companies and new market entrants, such as InsurTechs, to benefit from the opportunities that digitalisation can offer.
24 November 2020INTERVIEW: Ramize Ramadani, Director of Insurance Supervision Department, Central Bank of Kosovo
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the financial performance of the insurance sector in Kosovo remained stable in the face of declining premium income and renewable contracts. (...) Nevertheless, during the first half of 2020, the insurance market registered a profit of EUR 5.7 million, a welcomed improvement from a loss of EUR 3.7 million recorded in the same period of last year.
5 November 2020INTERVIEW: Boris Saban, Executive Director, National Bureau of Montenegro Insurers
I am glad to say that our insurers reacted quickly and continued their daily business despite new circumstances. Issuing of MTPL insurance policies and vehicle registrations were conducted smoothly during the whole period. These two facts are very important for keeping the market stability, considering the fact that compulsory insurance is still dominant in the premium structure of the whole market.
29 October 2020INTERVIEW: Mira KIRIDZIC-BUGLER, Market Head, Austria and CEE, Swiss Re
InsurTech and Digitalization are here to stay - however there is still room for improvement. Digital solutions must add real value to customers and need to be more than just replacing formerly analogue processes. The InsurTechs were certainly the trigger for more innovation in our industry.
23 October 2020INTERVIEW: Ervin Mete, General Executive Director of FSA, Albania
This crisis showed that systems are now more crucial than ever in running the businesses and making sure they are adapting to the digital era we are witnessing. The Albanian market remained fully operational, working at reduced staff capacity, thanks to the remote style of working during the lockdown, and focused more on their online sales.
15 October 2020INTERVIEW: Krste Shajnoski, President of the Council of Experts, Insurance Supervisory Agency of North Macedonia
I think the lesson learned will be that there shouldn't exist a delay in following and adapting to new trends and changes, which means that market participants will have to change and adapt their business models, adopt new technologies, apply digital tools and encourage a culture of change in its operations (...)
8 October 2020INTERVIEW: Andrei UNTON, General Director, Belarus Re
Belarus Re is constantly working on portfolio diversification. In 2019, the portfolio geography was significantly expanded thanks to participation in risks from Latin America. Belarus Re has also strengthened its position on the markets of the Middle East and India.
25 June 2020INTERVIEW: Elisabeth STADLER, CEO, VIG - Vienna Insurance Group
For the first time in our history, we exceeded the 10 billion EUR premium limit and gained 10.4 billion EUR. We generated more than a half billion profit before taxes (522 million EUR), our net profit jumped by 23% to 331 million EUR and we improved our combined ratio strongly to 95.4 %. We are convinced that after the crisis, economic growth in the CEE region will again be stronger than in Western Europe.
18 June 2020
