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French insurance major AXA has announced that it is pulling back its Russian operations amid Moscow’s continued aggression towards Ukraine.
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In doing so, AXA joins its peers in the Russian exodus after the West imposed unprecedented financial sanctions to isolate Moscow.
AXA said: “Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, AXA has fully enforced all international sanctions. We have also stopped underwriting new insurance business (and stopped all renewals) with respect to Russian owned assets located in Russia.
“We have stopped underwriting new reinsurance (and stopped all reinsurance renewals) of Russian insurers.”
The insurer has also halted all new investments in Russian assets.
Notably, AXA owns a stake in the Russian insurance firm Reso Garantia, which was founded in 1991 and commands a key position in the Russian insurance space.
According to Reso’s website, it is the top auto insurer in the country and holds the fourth position in the general insurance market.
“AXA has no operational or management control over this company [Reso Garantia] and has decided to remove its directors from the board,” the insurer said.
AXA has owned a 37% stake in Reso since 2008.
Additionally, the French insurer has taken steps to help war-torn Ukraine, which includes a donation of €6m, to support civil populations and refugees and local projects by AXA Hearts in Action.
