Zurich Insurance to exit Russia by selling business to local team

By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi

ZURICH (Reuters) – Zurich Insurance policies has agreed to offer its Russian business to users of the nearby workforce, it stated on Friday, as the Swiss insurer became the newest Western firm to exit Russia.

It joins a checklist of corporations that have give up the market place in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with some handing these companies about to neighborhood associates. People quitting range from McDonald’s and Dutch brewer AB Inbev to carmaker Renault and French loan company Societe Basic.

Getting a suitable exit program has been a problem, with some corporations saying they are protecting their Russian companies to keep assets out of the fingers of the point out.

Zurich Coverage mentioned the sale, which continues to be topic to regulatory acceptance, would hand its rebranded Russian operations — which accounts for a little fraction of its total business enterprise — to 11 users of the unit’s staff.

“Beneath its new owners, the company will run independently under a different manufacturer, whilst Zurich will no for a longer time perform enterprise functions in Russia,” it stated.

“The transaction will allow the new corporation to keep a professional workforce with amassed insurance plan expertise and to carry on serving the Russian marketplace,” Zurich Insurance plan stated.

The Swiss coverage enterprise, which conducts home and casualty insurance policy in Russia largely for global consumers, reported it held about .3% of Russia’s non-life insurance plan market place.

Zurich, which has taken off its Z symbol from social media right after the letter became a symbol of help in Russia for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, reported in March it no longer took on new domestic consumers in Russia and would not renew existing regional company.

It stated when releasing initial-quarter details this month that its immediate publicity to Russia and Ukraine through its residence and casualty functions and expense portfolio was predicted to be “immaterial”.

It experienced gross created premiums of approximately $34 million in Russia in 2021, it explained on Friday, accounting for fewer than .1% of the $40.1 billion in gross prepared rates its house and casualty enterprise recorded for the calendar year.

The extensive majority of these ended up from international buyers, it reported, with only $3 million relevant to domestic Russian prospects.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi further reporting by Michael Shields Enhancing by Lisa Shumaker and Edmund Blair)