According to Financial Times, Ukraine has reached a deal with global insurers to provide affordable cover to ships carrying grain and other critical food supplies from its Black Sea ports, even as its war with Russia wages on. The new public-private partnership was announced on 15 Nov by Kyiv and insurance broking giant Marsh McLennan. It will offer up to $50mn each of hull and liability insurance from Lloyd’s of London firms for ships carrying agricultural commodities, providing so-called war risk cover in case of losses coming from the conflict. As previously reported, the risk is to be shared between insurers and Kyiv, with the state bearing the first portion of any claims up to an undisclosed level. The collateral for this will be provided in the form of letters of credit from state banks Ukreximbank and Ukrgasbank. German lender DZ Bank will act as a middleman, confirming the collateral for foreign insurers. Decreasing the insurance rate for war-related risks was a “top priority”, said Christina Serebryakova at Atria Brokers. “There are still many companies that do not insure the cargo for war risk until their ships cross into Ukrainian waters and take the risk due to the current high costs of insurance.”
