XPRIMM News No. 234, November 28, 2013

		Insurance Newsletter, No. 234, November 28, 2013 Click here to subscribe! Click here to unsubscribe!

TOP NEWS VIG reports a significant improvement of the profit in the third quarter of 2013 by alexandru.ciuncan@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 "The development of Vienna Insurance Group shows that the strategic focus on the markets of the CEE region is very successful. The Group is positioned excellently in the region and earnings in the insurance business are increasing practically in all CEE markets," stated Peter HAGEN, CEO of Vienna Insurance Group commenting the 3Q2013 financial results of the Group. More Продолжение Peter HAGEN, VIG CEO: We are concerned about the regulatory regime in Romania by alexandru.ciuncan@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 VIENNA Insurance Group announced on Thursday that the overall positive results in the first nine months of 2013 were affected by substantial losses in Romania and Italy. In their press release, VIG presents the motor insurance industry in Romania as being characterized by an "irrational competition" between rival companies, a fact that weakens the whole market on a long term. More EIOPA: Risk balance sheet emphasized - opportunity by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 For the third time under the aegis of EIOPA, the high ranking representatives of the regulation and control financial institutions in Europe met in Frankfurt with the most relevant operators on the financial markets, for a dialog whose purpose is to define the future trends. The maintenance of a correct balance between risk and opportunity in the life and private insurance field, the definition of a coherent European framework for the private pensions, as well as the long-awaited launching of the new supervision measures, Solvency II, were the main topics of the 2013 edition. More Продолжение The CEE and CIS regions will play an increasingly important role in the global reinsurance industry by adina.tudor@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 The emerging insurance markets in the CEE and CIS regions have a significant potential in the future years and they will play an increasingly important role in the global reinsurance industry. "Geographically, they represent quite a significant region which will develop extensively over the next 20 to 30 years. And as these markets develop, they will increase their involvement in the global reinsurance market", Kirill SAVRASSOV, Chief Underwriting Officer and Senior Vice-President, PHOENIX CRetro Re's, has explained in an interview for INSURANCE Day. More BARNIER: Tri-party agreement for Omnibus II, a step insuring the unity in diversity for the European insurance market by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 One could say that a slackening of the insurance market was visible at this year's EIOPA Conference, after the seemingly never-ending implementation of a new Solvency II set of measures is drawing to an end. Upon the conference closing speech, Michel BARNIER, European Commissioner for the Internal and Services Markets, expressed both his satisfaction for reaching this stage and his concern for the phases still to be followed until the actual implementation, in 2016. More Продолжение Life insurance - between risk, efficiency and ... survival by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 Now that the implementation process of Solvency II is in its last phase, the European insurance market is still concerned with the way in which a series of technical problems will be solved. Among them, a central place is occupied by the way in which the life insurance industry will meet the challenges raised in the financial environment dominated by low interests. More Продолжение PensionsEurope: Pension funds can play a major role in the economic relaunch by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 Upon the European Pension Funds Congress 2013, event hosted by PensionsEurope within EUROPEAN FINANCE WEEK, Joanne SEGARS, PensionsEurope President, brought into debate the pension system in Europe, pointing out that 'there are still a series of unsolved issues for the European pensions, beyond the topic concerning the application of supervision criteria similar to Solvency II, which there is still no agreement about. More Продолжение Pillar III could represent the access road to the real portability of pensions at the EU level by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 Both on the European institutions' agenda and among the concerns of diverse associative structures of European entrepreneurs, the portability of private pensions - occupational or personal -, is still on the unsolved priorities list. The structural diversity of the pension systems and schemes, as well as the significant differences in the labor legislation and in the taxation system, are among the main reasons why it is still very difficult to imagine a comprehensive system at the EU level which ensures the efficient transfer of pensions rights acquired by a European citizen. More Продолжение Romanian insurance market holding steady at the end of September by mihai.cracea@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 The Romanian insurance market kept a constant pace at the end of the third trimester, premiums rising just 0.1% y-o-y, reaching EUR 1.4 billion, according to the preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Authority. At the same time, paid claims reached EUR 838 million, falling 2.44% since last year. This stagnation was caused mainly by a 4.49% drop in life insurance to EUR 280 million. More Продолжение In the first 9 months of 2013, CertAsig reported a 29% business increase by mihai.cracea@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 CertAsig reported a 29% increase of its gross written premiums volume in the first three quarters of 2013, up to EUR 8.5 million, compared to EUR 6.6 million in the same period last year. Thus, the company continued with its fourth year of positive results. More Продолжение Almost half of the Romanian homes are insured by oleg.doronceanu@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 In the first 9 months of 2013, the penetration degree of household insurance in Romania reached 47.1% (through mandatory and voluntary insurance policies), according to the latest data published by the financial supervisory authority (ASF). More Продолжение CROATIAN insurers 3Q2013 GWP up 1.0% by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 Croatian insurance market totaled HRK 6.9 billion (EUR 910 million) in 3Q2013, up 0.96% from a year earlier, according to the financial figures published by the Croatian Insurance Bureau. As in previous reporting periods, the market leaders were CROATIA Osiguranje with a 30.5% market share, followed by ALLIANZ Zagreb with 13.2% and EUROHERC (10.2%). More Продолжение KOSOVO, 3Q2013: Lower premiums and a loss of almost EUR 100.000 by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 According to data published by the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo (CBK), the insurance market reported a negative result in 3Q2013. GWP totaled EUR 60.2 million, or 5% less as compared to the January-September 2012 period. At the same time, the paid claims of insurers increased by 37% to EUR 29.5 million. More Продолжение GREECE, 3Q2013: Lower premiums following the motor insurance price war by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 In 3Q2013, the Greek insurance market totaled EUR 2.86 billion, 10.1% less y-o-y, according to the figures presented by the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (HAIC). Life insurance segment decreased 16.2% y-o-y at approximately EUR 1.2 billion, while the non-life segment reported a negative dynamic of 5.2% y-o-y. More Продолжение PZU 3Q2013: Growth in profitability and premiums confirm the development strategy efficiency by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 PZU Group's net financial result in the first three quarters of 2013 surpassed EUR 656 million (PLN 2.7 billion) and was similar to the net result for the same period last year. Gross written premium rose by 2% in this period to more than EUR 2.94 billion (PLN 12.4 billion). "The adopted strategy has proven its effectiveness. Above all, this is the result of profitability growth, cost discipline and improved efficiency" - said Andrzej KLESYK, CEO of PZU SA. More Продолжение TRIGLAV Group, 3Q2013: A rising profitability and a strategy targeting a 10% market share in all foreign markets by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 TRIGLAV Group posted a net profit of EUR 56.6 million in the first nine months of 2013, 12% up y-o-y compared with the respective period of 2012. The Group's profit before tax amounted to EUR 65.4 million. For the same period, Zavarovalnica TRIGLAV d.d., the parent company, reported a net profit amounting to EUR 50.5 million, while profit before tax totalled EUR 57.9 million. More Продолжение ALLIANZ 3Q2013: Positive results encourage optimistic expectations for end 2013 by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 "Given the positive development of the ALLIANZ Group for the first nine months of 2013, we now expect our operating profit for the full year to be slightly above EUR 9.7 billion, the upper end of our previously stated target range," said Michael DIEKMANN, CEO of ALLIANZ SE. More Продолжение UNIQA anticipates EUR 300 million in gross profit at the end of the year by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 The Austrian insurer UNIQA increased its nine-month earnings before tax by 74.7% y-o-y to EUR 266.3 million. "Based on current assessments, UNIQA Group anticipates a profit from ordinary activities of around EUR 300 million for 2013 overall, not including non-recurring items such as the sale of the hotel holding," according to the press release published by the company. More Продолжение TALANX maintains its target of EUR 700 million in net profit for FY2013 by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-11-28 The TALANX Group closed the first nine months of 2013 with an operating profit of EUR 1.4 billion, 4% more compared with 3Q2012. At the same time, the group's net income decreased by 4% y-o-y to EUR 528 million, affected by a lower investment income and damage claims from the summer hail storms in Germany. More Продолжение

EDITORIAL "Coverage" - a topic gaining importance The recent tragedy that struck in Sardinia, when many of the islanders saw their homes destroyed by floods, raised again the issue of putting in place a national legislation for compulsory insurance for damages caused by this kind of calamity. It is not the first time when a dramatic, catastrophic event puts this problem back on the public agenda. The same happened in 2009, after the L'Aquila earthquake. And still... the law doesn't exist yet and the share of the insured claims seems to be small enough not to arouse any interest for the public debates. More daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro INTERVIEW Boris SABAN Executive Director National Bureau of Montenegro The insurance Market in Montenegro is very similar in the some aspects with the markets from ex YU, except for Slovenia. These markets are dominated by the compulsory insurance classes, among which MTPL is the most important. What makes us unique is the size of the market. Montenegro has only 625,000 inhabitants. This means our market is very small, but flexible. In addition ... no big risks, no big cat exposure. More  †† STATISTIC UPDATES Kosovo 3Q2013 Greece 3Q2013 Croatia 3Q2013 POINT OF VIEW Atilla OKSAY Deputy General Secretary Insurance Association of Turkey The Turkish insurance sector that records a growth rate above the inflation level every year thanks to the positive progress achieved by the economy and the stable growth period during the last years, has gained experience due to previous financial crises. However, the last crisis was hardly manageable due to its global scale. Postponement of new investments, the drop in the export volume, the recession in car and property sales, and contraction in the economy and the reinsurance market are the major threats the sector is facing in periods of financial crisis. More EVENTS Middle East and Africa Insurance Summit January 20-21, 2014 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Organizer: Fleming Gulf Media Partner: www.xprimm.com For details: finance.fleminggulf.com 3rd Annual Insurance Risk Management Forum February 19-20, 2014 Vienna, Austria Organizer: Fleming Europe Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.flemingeurope.com IIF 2014 - International Insurance Forum March 2-3, 2014 Istanbul, Turkey Pera Palace Hotel Media coverage: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.internationalinsuranceforum.com European Conference on Consumer Protection in Insurance March 13th 2014 Palace of the Parliament, Romania Special Guest: Mr. Gabriel BERNARDINO, Chairman, EIOPA Organizer: APPA FIAR 2014 - The International Insurance - Reinsurance Forum May 25-29, 2014 Brasov, Romania Organizer: Media XPRIMM Media coverage: XPRIMM Publications For more details: www.fiar.ro AIIF - 2014 Azerbaijan International Insurance Forum June 19-20, 2014 Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan STATISTICS Albania Armenia Bosnia Azerbaijan Bulgaria Belarus Croatia Georgia Czech Rep. Kazakhstan Estonia Kyrgyzstan Hungary Moldova Kosovo Russia Latvia Turkmenistan Lithuania Tajikistan Macedonia Ukraine Montenegro Uzbekistan Poland   Romania   Serbia Cyprus Slovakia Greece Slovenia Turkey PRESS CUTTINGS ARMENIA's pension reform will open the way to life insurance ARMENIA: Government to take over health insurance of public servants from private companies AZERBAIJANI insurance market may collapse because of structural measures aimed at mitigating structural imbalances CZECH REPUBLIC: Martin Divis named "Insurance Manager of the Year" Foreign insurers prepare to leave AZERBAIJANI insurance market for higher capital requirements GREECE: Auto insurance industry takes a plunge KBC: Strong commercial result a nd one-off impact from divestments Malaysia's state investment firm completes USD 252 million purchase in Turkish insurer Martin Hehemann leaves UNIQA Group Only technical bankrupt keeps remaining at AZERBAIJAN insurance market POLAND's PKO BP to repeat tender offer for Nordea's shares Polish insurance giant PZU launches insurance services business in ESTONIA ROMANIA's Safety Broker opens branch in Moldova's Chisinau RUSSIA: Relatives of air crash victims in Kazan receive insurance payments Successful trade mission opens RUSSIAN insurance market for FRISS TURKISH disaster insurance pool grows stronger UZBEKISTAN: Regional insurance penetration increasing ZURICH reports business operating profit of USD 3.6 billion for the first nine months of 2013