Ukrainian insurer Veltliner is offering prospective tourists the opportunity to buy medical insurance for when they visit the country.
While governments are advising against visiting Ukraine during the war, Veltliner has launched a series of products – called “Travel to Peaceful Ukraine” – that can be bought today, for use within the next five or 10 years.
For example, a €35 ($35) policy will provide cover for emergency medical costs of €30,000 during one trip lasting up to 30 days, to be taken within five years of the policy being bought. This includes medical care in a severe Covid-19 case.
The company described it as “an opportunity to open a new horizon of impressions and show a gesture of support for Ukraine's economy”.
Veltliner – named after the Austrian white wine grape – was founded in November 1997 and offers a range of personal and business insurance products including motor, property, travel and liability cover.
The company said it continues to battle on “its front”, making efforts to ensure business continuity, settling claims, keeping jobs at pre-war levels, paying full salaries to employees, paying taxes on time and helping the armed forces.
“Veltliner believes and knows that in the nearest future Ukraine will be a peaceful country, which will continue to hospitably welcome everyone who comes to visit our land. The vast expanses of Ukraine are rich and diverse: steppes and dense forests, gentle seas and majestic mountains, stormy rivers and calm lakes, golden fields ... they will amaze you again and again,” the company said.
Veltliner is one of Ukraine’s smaller insurers, taking in UAH 44m ($1.5m) of premiums in 2021. The war has led to a fall in its premium income of 30-40%, in line with reported market-wide figures.
But the travel medical insurance market has been particularly badly hit, a Veltliner spokesperson said, with premium incomes down approximately 90%. Some insurers specialising in travel policies have exited the market, but Veltliner’s diversified business has allowed it to continue, the spokesperson added.
The company kept its operations going – and its employees safe – by allowing staff to work remotely during the initial phase of the war. “Since April, all the company's offices have been working in the pre-war mode and are successfully returning affairs to their proper condition,” the spokesperson said.
The Ukrainian regulator has helped firms by halting inspections and extending deadlines for submissions of some financial statements. But ultimately, the future for the insurance sector is tightly bound to the prospects for the economy and the ceasing of hostilities.
“Ukraine's economic recovery is a very difficult process, but it is possible. Our company will do our utmost to maintain our activities and help the Ukrainian economy, protect the poor with competitive insurance products and will properly serve customers under contracts,” the spokesperson said.