After shrinking in the first quarters of 2012, Lithuania's life insurance sector gained momentum and recorded an annual increase of 2.5% towards the end of the year. Last year the entire insurance market grew by 5.2%.

Lithuanian insurers can expect the non-life sector to grow by up to 7% this year owing to the increased spending power of its citizens, RSA said today.

According to the study done by the independent research company EPSI Baltic in 2012, the satisfaction of Estonian (+3 points) and Lithuanian (+2.7 points) respondents with their insurance companies increased this year. Same time, the evaluations of Latvian inhabitants almost did not change this year in comparison to results of 2011.

Lithuania's insurance market picked up by 1.3% in volume over three quarters of this year - insurance companies registered in the country and branches established in Lithuania by other European Union Member States wrote LTL 1.28 billion of insurance premiums. As in the previous quarters of this year, the extent of growth of written non-life insurance premiums outpaced significantly the volume of written life assurance premiums, which continued to contract.

NORDEA Life Assurance, a Finland-based provider of life insurance and private pension, part of the financial group NORDEA, is planning to sell its insurance business in Lithuania to the Germany-based insurance group ERGO Versicherungsgruppe.

Gross written insurance premiums in Lithuania dropped by 1.2% in the first six months, led by an 11.2% decrease in life insurance policies, according to the financial figures recently published by the Central Bank of the Republic of Lithuania. The premiums reached LTL 855.3 million (EUR 247.7 million), with non-life premiums accounting for 70.2% and life policies for 29.8% of the total, show the statistics published by the central bank. A year earlier, the proportion was 60.9% against 33.1%.

According to the data of Bank of Lithuania, in the first half of the year 2012 insurance contracts for LTL 855.3 million (EUR 247.7 million) were signed, 1.2% less than year-on-year.

License of an insurance brokerage company was issued to the Lithuania-based company Benitas, the national bank of Lithuania said in a statement.

The number of accidents involving Belarusians in Lithuania is growing every year. For example, there were 58 accidents by the fault of Belarusians in 2007, while in 2008 - 72, in 2009 - 81, in 2010 - 130 and in 2011 - 155. "It was when our green card was active and our insurance companies paid for an accident committed by Belarusians in Lithuania," informed the Belarusian Transport Insurance Bureau.

According to the data of the Bank of Lithuania, the amount of insurance premiums written in the domestic insurance market over the first quarter of 2012 made up LTL 397.7 million, which was 0.2 per cent less than over the same period last year. In total, 1.09 million of insurance contracts were concluded, which was 4.0 per cent more than in the first quarter of 2011. Over the first three months of the year, insurers paid claims for the amount of LTL 255 million or 1.8 per cent less than a year ago.

AB Lietuvos Dujos shareholders at their Annual General Meeting of 23 April 2012 approved the Company's activity results of the year 2011. Compared to 2010, the consolidated audited sales revenue of AB Lietuvos Dujos increased by 5.3% and amounted to LTL 1,840.0 million* (2010: LTL 1,746.8 million). The revenue growth was determined by the higher revenue from the supply activity. The revenue from the transportation activity remained at the level of 2010, of which the revenue from gas transit showed a significant increase. The consolidated pre-tax profit of AB Lietuvos Dujos decreased from LTL 148.9 million in 2010 to LTL 104.3 million in 2011.

Lithuania's insurance broker Balto Link has established a subsidiary in Estonia as it seeks to offer services to the companies active in all Baltic countries, the Verslo Zinios business daily reports on Tuesday.

Lithuania's insurance brokers boosted significantly their activity volumes; 1.024 million of insurance and pension accumulation funds were concluded in 2011 (19.2% more than in 2010), the bank of Lithuania said in a statement.

The Board of the Bank of Lithuania approved Kestutis Bagdonavicius as a candidate to hold the position of the Chairman of the Board of ADB ERGO Lietuva and Deniss Sazonovs, Maarika Liivamagi and Saulius Jokubaitis as candidates to hold the positions of members of the Board of this company.

The Board of the Bank of Lithuania ruled that insurance brokers must pass an examination to prove their qualification.

The amount of insurance premiums written in the domestic insurance market over the first month of this year made up 145.7 million litas in January 2012, which was 3.5% less than in a corresponding month 2011, the Bank of Lithuania said in a report.

Last year was a successful one to the insurance market as its growth rate almost doubled compared with the national economy. In 2011, the amount of written premiums reached as high as LTL 1.7 billion, a year-on-year rise of 9.5%. The number of insurance contracts surged in 2011 by 3.3% to LTL 4.9 million. The premium amount paid out last year by domestic insurers saw an increase of 15.5% compared with the year before last year.

As from 1 January 2012, the Insurance Supervisory Commission (ISC) of Lithuania was liquidate, its functions being transferred to a new operational unit of the Bank of Lithuania (LB), the Supervision Service. The new LB structure will supervise commercial banks and other credit and payment institutions, securities and insurance markets, and will investigate disputes of consumers and financial institutions.

According to the Insurance Supervisory Commission of the Republic of Lithuania, in the first nine months of this year, the local insurance market, grew by 11.2% to LTL 1.26 billion (EUR 365 million).

Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance belongs to the same international insurance company RSA as the previous shareholder Codan A/S, reports LETA/ELTA.