We are providing pro-bono support to the Ukrainian government to create a platform that provides the data needed for assessment of war risks in Ukraine.

The insurance market is currently unable to accurately assess risk in different parts of Ukraine, meaning that even specialist war-risk insurers are unable to operate effectively in the market at this time. In the absence of available and affordable insurance, private investment at scale will not happen.

We will work with the Ukrainian government, and in collaboration with the wider insurance and reinsurance industry, to create a platform, accessible by authorised users, that provides the data needed for actuarial analysis and assessment of war risks in Ukraine so the industry can start to provide appropriate cover.

This will provide access to the required data to allow insurers to meaningfully assess risks and thus enter the market. This will be a crucial step in rebuilding market confidence and unlocking capital that otherwise will not flow to support recovery.

We have been supporting the UK and Ukrainian governments in scoping options for war-risk insurance, which was a key input to the London Conference Framework announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

We have proposed the establishment of an innovative, multi-national war-risk pool that we believe is required to enable the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine at scale.

Currently there is virtually no war-risk insurance available to provide cover for investments or property in Ukraine. The insurance industry – in Ukraine or elsewhere – has never habitually covered war-risks at anything approaching the scale required.

At the present time, the key risk in question – war – is ongoing – which presents a challenge for the insurance industry: the analogy being that you cannot insure your house when it is already on fire. Even once the current ‘hot’ phase of war has ended or significantly diminished, an elevated degree of risk will remain in the eyes of private (re)insurance markets for a number of years.

The market alone cannot provide a solution. Our proposal is for the creation of a war-risk pool, enabled by provision of a backstop by G7+ governments, that will create the conditions for the functioning of the conventional property insurance market.

This is analogous to the types of public-private partnerships developed by a number of G7 countries for various perils including terror risk – although on a larger scale and a novel multi-lateral basis.

Marsh was instrumental in placing the first insurance for the new Marine Cargo and War facility that provided cover for Ukrainian grain and other vital food supplies being shipped through safe corridors established between Russia and Ukraine.

Our Marsh colleagues in Kyiv have continued to support clients and insurers in Ukraine even as the war is ongoing.

Our colleagues swiftly mobilized in response to the humanitarian crisis, raising $1.4M dollars to support the people of Ukraine, hosting refugees in their homes and finding refugees opportunities for employment.