The size of Ukraine’s insurance market could increase from 1% of GDP to 5–7% of GDP within five years, as the market has been “cleaned up,” is growing rapidly, and has strong potential for further expansion, said the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pyshnyy, during a roundtable titled “Prospects and Future of the Ukrainian Insurance Market: Strengthening the Insurance Sector’s Role in Ukraine’s Recovery and Reducing Investment Risks,” held on Wednesday in Gdańsk on the sidelines of URC 2026.
“Today there are all the prerequisites for this, but again, capital is needed, investors are needed, transparency is needed, adaptation is needed, understanding is needed,” the NBU Governor emphasized, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
He also addressed European partners and European insurance regulators, calling on them to take Ukrainian insurers and their potential seriously.
“I think each of you, after working through the full-scale war, looks at this market very differently. Looks at competition, solidarity, capacity, capability in a completely different way,” Pyshnyy noted.
According to him, Ukraine’s domestic insurance business is a platform for development.
Regarding access to the Ukrainian market for European and other foreign companies, the head of the NBU stressed that before Ukraine joins the EU, entry is possible only through the purchase of existing companies or the establishment of a legal entity, while the option of operating through branches will only become available after Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
“From the moment of accession (to the EU), we will definitely assume the corresponding obligation to open the market to European players. But let’s go through this path step by step,” he said.
He noted that the depth of transformation in the insurance market, in terms of complexity and importance, is no different from the transformation that took place in the banking sector.
“But it is happening with significantly less drama, because there has been continuous communication, structuring, and a shared understanding of goals. And achieving results has started to motivate the participants themselves. Everyone has felt that we are succeeding together. And today we can see deals in the market that indicate it is increasingly attracting investors,” he added.
According to him, the transformation is already clearly visible: the market is attractive, reputable, highly liquid, and profitable.
Pyshnyy clarified that the banking sector currently corresponds to EU regulatory equivalence at a level of 78%, while the insurance sector is only at 55%.
“But imagine what will happen with deeper European integration. That is exactly what we will be working on, and it will definitely affect virtually all areas,” he concluded, forecasting new deals involving the entry of foreign companies into the Ukrainian market this year and the next.
