Another Ukrainian bank has started insuring ships in the Black Sea.
The Export Credit Agency (ECA) announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
At the request of the Export Credit Agency, Ukreximbank and Ukrgasbank have issued letters of credit for USD 10 million each to a pool of 14 British insurance companies to reduce the cost of insuring ships passing through Ukraine’s temporary shipping corridor in the Black Sea.
The proposed mechanism for using the letters of credit reduces British insurers’ risk costs, allowing them to lower the cost of insurance policies for shipowners. This will make the maritime corridor more accessible to a wider range of exporters.
As the CFTS portal reported previously, in November 2023, Ukraine and a pool of British insurance companies set up a mechanism to make the temporary Black Sea corridor more accessible to exporters.
"Ukraine and a pool of British insurance companies have created a special mechanism. It will allow exporters of all products from Ukraine to receive a discount on the cost of insurance against war-related risks. This will make the Black Sea corridor more accessible to a wider range of exporters," Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at the time.
The Ukrainian prime minister emphasized that the Cabinet of Ministers has allocated funds to cover possible war-related risks for shipowners. The mechanism involves the Export Credit Agency, Ukrgasbank, Ukreximbank, and a pool of 14 insurance companies.
As the CFTS portal reported earlier, the fund for insurance of civilian ships, which was created to encourage shipowners to send ships to Ukrainian Black Sea ports in the face of Russian aggression, was reduced during the drafting of the Ukrainian state budget for 2024. The total amount of compensation was initially expected to be up to UAH 20 billion, but only UAH 2 billion was budgeted for 2024 under the relevant article of the draft state budget (at least in its first reading).
