While residential real estate in Bulgaria has expanded in recent years, the property insurance market remains underdeveloped, well below its true potential.

Bulgarian EUROHOLD -owner of EUROINS Insurance Group (EIG) - announced in its preliminary financial report for 2018 - a positive financial result in amount of BGN 1.7 million (EUR 871,800) versus a loss of BGN 17.3 million (EUR 8.84 million) for the comparable period last year.

Bulgarian FSC (Financial Supervision Commission) has raised the fixed amount of contribution that Bulgarian insurers have to transfer to the Guarantee Fund for each MTPL contract issued, as a followup to the December 20th discussion when the Commission initially talked about a possible change in the amount of contribution.

The sale of the French Societe Generale banking group's Bulgarian subsidiary, SG Expressbank - including the leasing, factoring and life insurance subsidiaries -, to Hungarian OTP Bank was finalized, according to an OTP statement on 16 January.

The Bulgarian insurance market saw a 13.5% GWP growth in 3Q2018, to EUR 953.36 million, while paid claims went up overall by only 3.75%, to EUR 407 million. Non-life insurance line, especially the MTPL class, were the market's growth drivers.

The Bulgarian Financial Supervisory Commission announced it has allowed DZI - Life Insurance's plan to absorb its wholly-owned unit UBB - Life Insurance. FSC did not provide further details in its statement.

The Bulgarian insurance market saw a 21.5% increase in GWP volume throughout between 2008 and 2017, the 10 years for which xprimm.com statistical database in presenting market results. The MTPL insurance class had the largest contribution, in absolute terms, to the market growth.

Thousands of Bulgarians protested last weekend in over 20 cities by blocking major highways and roads against higher fuel prices, tax increases for older, more polluting cars and an expected increase in MTPL premiums.

Bulgarian insurance market" authority - FSC recently published a draft ordinance regarding the MTPL tariffs for MTPL policies, wrote local media.

The Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission - FSC announced that it has allowed Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) to increase its direct shareholding in Bulstrad Vienna Insurance Group, following the liquidation of its fully-owned subsidiary TBI Bulgaria.

Insurance should be accessible to all social classes, regardless of their wealth & income status. Products offered today are conventional insurance products, largely inspired from the developed markets as "one-size-fits-all" solutions, affordable to only middle- and high-income clients in the Eastern Europe's emerging & developing markets. Inclusive insurance's goal is making insurance available to all, with responsible insurance offers, thus making up for a solution to narrow the insurance coverage gap in the region.

Property and motor insurance lines are providing for about 75% of the non-life insurance business in the CEE region, but are responsible for over 77% of the claims expenses. As such, although other classes of risks are emerging, for the time being and most probably for a rather long period ahead, property and motor insurance lines will continue to be at the heart of CEE's insurance market architecture.

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