VIG employees sheltering 15% of Ukrainian workforce abroad, chiefly in Poland

Central European insurance group  VIG has seen as many as 200 of its 1400 Ukrainian employees escape the conflict with their families and secure refuge in Poland and other central European locations, officials said early Tuesday (March 8).

“We have about 200 families that have fled Ukraine and are being cared for by our Polish employees,” deputy general manager Hartwig Löger (pictured) told a press briefing. Polish VIG employees have handled or arranged transport from the border and lodging, he indicated.

Similar actions have been underway in other nations bordering the Ukraine, but with no employee counts yet forwarded to the home office, Löger said. Löger expressed his amazement that some Ukrainian employees now in exile had reached out for home office equipment and capacities.

Ukraine remains “a core market within our CEE activity,” Löger insisted, citing a neighborhood 7% market share and #3 position. The group will not currently consider scenarios under which that status might change, he claimed.

VIG owns three insurance companies in Ukraine: non-life companies Kniazha and UIG as well as life unit Kniazha Life.  Total Ukrainian GWP of €107.8 million was up 18% year on year, an earnings presentation showed.  VIG puts its average profit in the last four years at ca. €10 million per year. VIG has had no activity in Russia since 2012, officials noted.

On the investment side, VIG has a negligible low seven-digit reinsurance exposure to Russia, and neighborhood €210 million of Russian investment exposure, including €44 million in Russian government bonds and ~€113 million in Russian corporate bonds. Ukrainian investment exposure comes to ~€60 million.

“Compared to total capital investments, it’s less than 1%,” CFRO Liane Hirner said. “Even on default, we could digest that easily.”

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