Aon and EBRD Expand Ukraine War Risk Insurance Facility to €150 Million

Aon and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have expanded the Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction Guarantee Facility (URGF) to €150 million. For insurance and reinsurance professionals, this expansion signals a strengthening war risk market, providing vital capacity that allows local carriers to continue underwriting commercial risks despite intensifying attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and logistics.

What was announced

The expansion of the Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction Guarantee Facility (URGF) increases its total capacity from €110 million to €150 million. Managed by Aon, the facility was established to bolster the war risk insurance market in Ukraine by providing reinsurance capacity to private sector insurers. To date, the initiative has facilitated more than €500 million in reinsurance coverage for goods and vehicles, spanning nearly 10,000 individual policies. This growth arrives as Ukrainian businesses contend with ongoing attacks on energy, transport, and civilian infrastructure, as well as the blockade of Black Sea ports.

Under the facility’s structure, the EBRD provides a guarantee to global reinsurer MS Amlin, covering losses on war-related risks underwritten by participating local Ukrainian insurers. This mechanism enables local companies to expand their war insurance offerings without bearing the full volatility of the risk on their own balance sheets. The facility has demonstrated commercial viability, with premiums generated exceeding claims reported to date, and MS Amlin has not yet called on the EBRD guarantee. With this expansion, Ukrainian insurers UNIVERSALNA (part of Fairfax Financial Group) and USG (part of Vienna Insurance Group) join existing participants INGO, Colonnade, and UNIQA.

The scope of the facility has also been broadened to address evolving economic needs. In addition to existing coverage for inland cargo, motor vehicle damage, and railway rolling stock, the URGF now covers the transportation and storage of gas-related assets. It also introduces a new line of business to protect inventory goods held in temporary warehouse storage. The facility receives backing from France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, and the TaiwanBusiness–EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund, with additional capacity supported by the European Union under its Ukraine Investment Framework.

"The URGF is a critical tool that helps businesses in Ukraine to manage their risk and continue operating in a war environment. We're pleased to work with our partners to expand the scheme and offer additional support to more companies amidst challenging operating conditions."

Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the EBRD.

The companies involved

Aon plc is a leading global professional services firm that provides a wide range of risk, retirement, and health solutions. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the firm acts as the primary manager of the URGF, leveraging its expertise in complex risk mitigation to structure the facility. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is a multilateral developmental investment bank that uses investment as a tool to build market economies. In this facility, the EBRD acts as the guarantor, providing the financial backstop necessary for private reinsurance capital to remain active in a conflict zone.

The local insurance participants represent significant international interests. UNIVERSALNA is a member of the Fairfax Financial Group, a Canadian financial holding company with global operations in property and casualty insurance. USG is a subsidiary of the Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), one of the largest international insurance groups in Central and Eastern Europe. These partnerships ensure that the facility is integrated with global underwriting standards while maintaining local distribution expertise. MS Amlin, the global reinsurer involved in the scheme, provides the technical capacity required to absorb specialized risks associated with war-related damages, supported by the EBRD’s guarantee framework.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has tracked Aon’s strategic developments across the EMEA region, highlighting the firm’s focus on both leadership and resilience. The publication recently reported that Aon Appoints Dr. Fabian Bohnert to Lead EMEA Life Solutions and AI Strategy, a move reflecting the firm’s commitment to integrating advanced technology into its core service lines. Furthermore, Aon’s role in addressing large-scale systemic risks was noted when Aon Unveils New Climate Resilience Framework for Nordic and European Corporations. These reports underscore a broader trend of major professional services firms developing specialized frameworks to manage volatility, whether driven by environmental factors or geopolitical conflict.

What this means from an insurtech perspective

This expansion highlights the critical role of public-private partnerships in maintaining insurance liquidity within high-risk zones. By using EBRD guarantees to back MS Amlin, the facility bypasses the traditional retreat of private capital during active conflict, offering a blueprint for how structured reinsurance can stabilize local loss ratios. For the broader industry, this demonstrates that even "uninsurable" risks can be managed through innovative capital layering. It places pressure on incumbent vendors to provide the granular data and real-time monitoring needed for underwriting volatile war risks. Ultimately, the success of the URGF suggests that maintaining distribution networks and customer trust in conflict zones is possible when capital is structured to absorb catastrophic volatility.