Europe’s third-largest insurer cuts ties with Russia; shuts Moscow office

Europe’s third-largest and Italy’s biggest insurer  Generali is cutting ties with Russia over the Ukraine invasion, the company announced late Thursday (March 3).

The insurer has decided to shut its representative office in Moscow, and wind down its business Europ Assistance, which operates in the country.

Furthermore, Generali has decided to resign from positions held on the board of the Russian insurer Ingosstrakh, in which it holds a minority investment stake of 38.5%, stating that it has “no influence on its operations”.

Generali claims “minor exposure” to the Russian market in terms of investments and insurance business but assured that it is also under “constant evaluation and fully compliant with all applicable sanctions”.

The insurer said it has been closely monitoring the situation and implications for operations and financial markets since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Generali will donate €3 million to support refugee programmes, including a dona-tion to UNHCR, which is currently at the forefront of the humanitarian response in Ukraine.

An employee donation campaign is also underway, with donations matched 1:1 by Generali, which will be given to Unicef in support of the work that it will carry out to help impacted families.

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.