Ukraine Launches First War-Risk Insurance Payouts as 4 Kyiv Firms Cut Premium Costs by Two-Thirds

Ukraine has begun making its first payouts under a state program subsidizing war-risk insurance premiums for businesses, with four Kyiv-based companies receiving compensation totaling Hr. 6.8 million ($153,500) – cutting their effective cost of war-risk coverage from 4.24% to 1.19%.

The payments were made by Ukraine’s Export Credit Agency (ECA), which administers the program under Cabinet Resolution No. 1541, adopted in 2025 as part of the government’s Made in Ukraine policy framework. The ECA processes applications, verifies insurance contracts against program eligibility requirements, and issues payments directly to businesses.

It is the first working mechanism of an active war insurance from the state, after years of designing . Previously PrivatBank CEO Mikael Björknert, told Kyiv Post that lack of war insurance deters companies from larger investments. 

Ukraine’s Export Credit Agency reported the first results of the program on Wednesday.

To participate in the program, a business must sign a property insurance contract covering war risks after Jan. 1, 2026, pay the insurance premium, and simultaneously submit an application to the ECA along with a one-time fee of Hr.5,000 ($113) per contract. From the 31st day of the insurance contract, the company may apply to the ECA for premium compensation. The maximum payout is capped at Hr.3 million ($67,700) per company per calendar year.

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The ECA received 40 applications from companies across Kyiv, Lviv, Rivne, and Cherkasy regions, and the capital. The total insured value under those contracts stands at Hr. 4.3 billion ($97.1 million), with expected premium compensation of Hr. 59.5 million ($1.34 million).

The launch of the government subsidy program runs alongside a parallel instrument introduced by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). On May 11, the EBRD announced it was piloting an Enterprise Security Enhancement (ESE) mechanism with PrivatBank and Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine.

Some of Ukraine’s private insurance companies have also entered the market. Canadian-linked ARX and Colonnade, Austria’s Uniqa and Ukrainian firms Arsenal Strahyvannya, VUSO now offer B2C war-risk coverage, while INGO has rolled out B2B products. Colonnade has also launched EBRD-backed B2B coverage for truck-based ground logistics.