XPRIMM News No. 235, December 12, 2013

		Insurance Newsletter, No. 235, December 12, 2013 Click here to subscribe! Click here to unsubscribe!

TOP NEWS ROMANIA 3Q2013: 1.5% growth capitalizing on the MTPL insurance lines by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 The slight increase recorded during the first three quarters of the current year brought the Romanian insurance market's GWP to EUR 1.42 billion. The two main business segments showed an almost perfectly symmetrical evolution, with a 1.5% increase in non-life GWP and a 1.2% decrease of the life insurance underwritings. More Продолжение AXA sells its Romanian subsidiary and exits the local market by mihaela.circu@mxp.ro, vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 AXA Group announced it will sell its Romanian subsidiary, the life insurance company AXA Asigurari de Viata, to the local player ASTRA Asigurari. Thus, the French group will exit the Romanian market. The operation is waiting the approval of the regulatory authorities. More Продолжение EIOPA has issued the Guidelines on complaints-handling by insurance intermediaries by adina.tudor@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has issued the Guidelines on complaints-handling by insurance intermediaries. The Guidelines set down guidance on appropriate internal systems and control for complaints-handling, the pr More Продолжение Awards for the VIG companies in Bulgaria by mihai.cracea@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 In the competition "Insurance of the Year 2013" staged by the Bulgarian Association of Insurance Brokers (BAIB), the Bulgarian Group companies of Vienna Insurance Group won awards in two out of seven categories. The property insurer BULSTRAD was selected as the "Fairest Insurer 2013" for the fast payment of claims for damages for personal injury in the motor third-party insurance. The life insurer BULSTRAD Life received the award "Life Insurer of the Year 2013". The awards demonstrate very clearly the focus on customer needs. All the VIG companies pursue a common goal, namely that of inspiring confidence in customers and providing them with a sense of security. More Продолжение Bulgarian group EUROINS acquires QBE operations in Romania and Bulgaria by oana.radu@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 Australian group QBE has announced the sale of its Romanian and Bulgarian operations to EUROINS Insurance Group, while keeping undisclosed the terms of the transaction. The portfolios will be transferred to TUROINS after the approval of the regulatory authorities. More Продолжение ROMANIA: With a business volume of EUR 662 million, brokers generate almost half of the market by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 The insurance brokerage market ended the first three quarters of 2013 with a total volume of mediated premiums of EUR 662 million, representing an increase of more than 10% compared to September 2012, according to the preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Authority. Thus, the brokers' share in the total insurance market increased to 47%, while in September 2008 the same indicator was 30%. More Продолжение Is Takaful insurance a potential line of business for insurers? by adina.tudor@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 The global Takaful premiums will rise to USD 15 billion by 2015, according to a recent report by MOODY's. The Middle East and Africa Insurance Summit will explore the growing popularity of Takaful, bancassurance, and other innovations in the MEA insurance industry on 20-21 January 2014 in Dubai. More Продолжение BULGARIA 3Q2013: 8% increase in GWP with a winning bet on the health and MTPL insurance lines by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 The Bulgarian insurance market's evolution in Q3 2013 showed the same trends as in the first half of the year, with a substantial growth rate on the life insurance side and a modest increase in the non-life insurance underwritings, mostly driven by the health insurance and MTPL insurance lines. Thus, GWP amounted, in total, to EUR 629 million, almost 8% up y-o-y. More Продолжение Cypriot insurance industry still affected by crisis: -5.6% y-o-y in 3Q2013 by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 Relatively small and still affected by the financial crisis, the Cypriot insurance industry contracted by 5.6%, to EUR 577 million in the first three quarters of 2013, according to the report of the IAC - Insurance Association of Cyprus on insurers' performance. On the main insurance classes, the largest decrease in GWP was recorded in life insurance, from EUR 271 million to EUR 246.5 million (or 9% less y-o-y), while the non-life segment decreased by 2.9% y-o-y to EUR 330.5 million. More Продолжение Romanian insurers ceded 30% more premiums in reinsurance by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 Over the first 9 months of 2013, the premiums ceded in reinsurance by the Romanian insurance companies totaled EUR 366 million, according to data published by INSURANCE Profile, 30% more compared to the value of EUR 282 million reported in January-September 2012. The ceded premiums and gross written premiums ratio reached 25.8% in the first three quarters of 2013. More Продолжение BOSNIA, 3Q2013: Premiums up by 3.5% y-o-y by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 At the end of September 2013, the total value of gross written premiums by insurance companies active in the two administrative entities that formed Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH - Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and RS - Republika Srpska) increased to EUR 202 million, up by 3.5% y-o-y. More Продолжение MONTENEGRO, 3Q2013: Positive dynamics are maintained in almost all segments by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 In January-September 2013, the Montenegrin insurance market totaled EUR 53.6 million, 4.9% more y-o-y, according to preliminary data published by the Insurance Supervision Agency. The structure of GWP was composed of 86.4% - non-life insurance, while the share of life insurance increased from 12.6% to 13.6% - due the higher growth rate than the market average (13.6% y-o-y). More Продолжение SERBIAN market posts modest increase rate in 3Q2013 by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 In 3Q2013, the Serbian insurance market totaled RSD 48.8 billion (EUR 425 million), which is a modest increase of 2.9% on a year earlier, according to the data published by the National Bank of Serbia. More Продолжение SAVA Re, 3Q2013: The MARIBOR acquisition begins to bear fruit both in terms of business volume and profitability by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2013-12-12 SAVA Re Group posted an after-tax profit of EUR 23.3 million after the first 3 quarters of 2013. This financial result has almost doubled as compared with 3Q2012 due to five months of consolidation with Zavarovalnica MARIBOR, the latest member arrived in the Group. SAVA Re's GWP figures show a 35.2% increase y-o-y, also mainly driven by the MARIBOR's contribution, while the Group's parent company, SAVA Reinsurance recorded a 10% decrease in GWP, to EUR 111 million. More Продолжение PRESS CUTTINGS ALLIANZ BULGARIA Holding: We are on the right track and there is no turning back ARMENIAN companies provide no life insurance AZERBAIJAN: Active bonus-malus system to replace rise of compulsory car insurance tariffs in 2014 AZERBAIJAN: Number of insurance agents increased by almost a quarter in one year AZERBAIJANI insurance companies request right to place their assets abroad BOSNIA: UNIQA Osiguranje has increased the volume of premiums by 15.2% KAZAKHSTAN: FITCH revises outlook on ALLIANCE-Life Insurance to negative from stable Komercni pojistovna wins the title of "The life insurance company in the Czech Republic" Number of accidents in ESTONIA's most dangrous roundabout down by 40% Only 273 road passengers insured in AZERBAIJAN RUSSIA: Insurance market expands 12.6% during January to September 2013 period Vienna Insurance Group's Slovak operations post 8.6% increase in Jan-Sep earnings

EDITORIAL Time to wrap up 2013! After 12 months bringing you the latest and most relevant news of the 32 insurance markets of the Central and South-Eastern Europe and the CIS regions that we monitor, our hope here, in the editorial office of xprimm.com is that XPRIMM News will be among one of this year's most pleasant experiences. More INTERVIEW Nurlan ABDRAKHMANOV Director of the Department of Control and Supervision Methodology National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan The strong economic growth in the country, the increase of production of goods and services, and the population's increased incomes contributed to the rapid growth of the insurance market. So, for the past 10 years, the amount of insurance premiums has grown more than 10 times. After a relative slow down during the crisis, starting in 2010, there has been a positive trend in all the financial indicators of Kazakh insurance companies: in terms of total assets, total liabilities, capital, insurance premiums and insurance claims. More STATISTIC UPDATES Romania 3Q2013 Serbia 3Q2013 Montenegro 3Q2013 Bosnia 3Q2013 Bulgaria 3Q2013 Cyprus 3Q2013 POINT OF VIEW Marija TOMESKA Executive Director EUROLINK Insurance Inc. Macedonia Incorporated in 2002, as Swiss and Italian joint FDI, EUROLINK Insurance Inc. Skopje was bought in 2009 by Group of Finance & Investment SA. Since 2011, the company has ranked second on the Macedonian insurance market. "Our company focuses on and invests in the development of property lines of business and alternative distribution channels, which is a great competitive advantage". 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 Financial Services March 13th 2014 Palace of the Parliament, Romania Special Guest: Mr. Gabriel BERNARDINO, Chairman, EIOPA Organizer: APPA and UNSAR X - Annual International Risk Management Conference 10th - 11th April, 2014 Almaty, Kazakhstan Organizer: JSC Eurasia Insurance Company Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.theeurasia.kz 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