How Eurasia operates as Central Asia’s leading reinsurance hub

Kairat Chegebayev shares with Monte Carlo Today how capital strength, international diversification and a long-term underwriting strategy are driving Eurasia’s expansion beyond its Central Asian base.

Key points:
54% of international portfolio in the market
Capital expected to exceed $1bn
India opens next phase of expansion

By Kairat Chegebayev, chairman of the mmanagement board, Eurasia Insurance Company

Over the past three decades, Eurasia has evolved from Kazakhstan’s leading non-life insurer into a significant international reinsurance platform, with business now spanning almost 100 countries.  In the first half of 2026, total assets of the country’s insurance sector reached $9.31 billion, including $3.66 billion held by non-life insurers. Eurasia Insurance Company has maintained a leading position in Kazakhstan’s non-life insurance market for many years, accounting for more than 41% of total sector assets.

Eurasia holds an S&P rating of BBB with a stable outlook — the highest among insurance companies in the CIS — and an AM Best rating of B++ with a positive outlook. 

Eurasia’s Solvency II SCR ratio of 294% provides a substantial capital buffer to absorb large losses and market and investment shocks, while supporting its position as an international insurance and reinsurance counterparty.

With shareholders’ equity currently standing at $748 million, Eurasia’s capital base is comparable with that of an “A”-rated insurer and represents almost 46% of the total shareholders’ equity of Kazakhstan’s non-life insurance market. Over the medium term, the Company’s capital is expected to exceed $1 billion.

This financial strength is well recognized by our long-standing partners and provides a solid foundation for the company’s continued development and expansion into new markets and business lines.

“The objective is to build a balanced and diversified portfolio with a sustainable risk-return profile and predictable underwriting performance.”

Reinsurance at the core

In the first half of 2026, Eurasia generated more than $273 million in gross written premium, including $111 million from international inward reinsurance. Approximately 60% of the Company’s portfolio is generated in Kazakhstan, while 40% comes from international business, reflecting Eurasia’s growing international reinsurance footprint.

In 2003, the Company made a strategic decision to focus on organic growth and portfolio diversification, recognising the long-term limitations of the domestic market. The development of international inward reinsurance became a key strategic priority, enabling Eurasia to expand its geographic reach, diversify its risk portfolio and reduce its exposure to domestic economic cycles.

 This international diversification is not simply a geographic expansion strategy. It is designed to build a balanced portfolio across markets, perils and lines of business, reducing concentration risk while improving the predictability and resilience of underwriting results.

Eurasia is a leading regional insurance company and a well-known reinsurer worldwide, accounting for approximately 54% of inward reinsurance premiums in the region. This makes Eurasia one of the leading exporter of financial services from Kazakhstan.

Building international scale

More than two decades in international reinsurance have helped Eurasia build underwriting expertise and strong relationships with global brokers and cedants.

 Our approach is not to pursue growth for its own sake. We apply disciplined risk selection and portfolio management, focusing on risks where we have the expertise, capacity and conviction to deliver sustainable returns. For our brokers and cedants, financial strength is only part of the value proposition. Equally important is the certainty that a valid claim will be handled quickly and decisively. The Company maintains high-level standards for claims handling, ensuring prompt and full settlement. This demanding benchmark has helped build trust with insurance and reinsurance partners.

Eurasia has participated in the settlement of major claims from significant insured events and natural catastrophes, with its capital position allowing it to absorb large losses while maintaining financial resilience.

Eurasia continues to welcome opportunities that fit its underwriting strategy and risk appetite, with the capacity to assess major reinsurance programmes and projects promptly and efficiently. India is an increasingly important strategic market for Eurasia. Following regulatory changes in the Indian reinsurance market, Eurasia became the first Kazakh insurance company to establish a branch in India, with the relevant authorisation granted by the GIFT City authorities. The objective is not only to grow the Indian portfolio, but to establish GIFT City as Eurasia’s regional underwriting hub for the Indian subcontinent and surrounding markets.

GIFT City is viewed by Eurasia as a strategic regional hub for further expansion across the Indian subcontinent, including Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Playing the long game

Our development model is both simple and challenging at the same time. We entered international markets ahead of our competitors, while our shareholders began reinvesting a significant share of the profits generated by the Company back into its capital base.

This enabled Eurasia to build expertise, strengthen its financial foundations and grow organically over time.

The strategy itself is straightforward. What is much more difficult — and what we are most proud of — is staying focused on the same objective for three decades, consistently and systematically, despite changing market conditions, challenges and uncertainty. Our ambition is not to become the largest reinsurer at any cost. It is to build a highly diversified, financially resilient and consistently profitable reinsurance platform that our partners can rely on across market cycles. That combination of long-term capital commitment, disciplined underwriting and reliable claims service will remain at the heart of Eurasia’s strategy.

Kairat Chegebayev is the chairman of the management board of Eurasia Insurance Company. He can be contacted at: Kairat.Chegebayev@theeurasia.kz

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