Resources

Ukraine Recovery

Enabling resilience through our global expertise

Recovery and resilience
The war in Ukraine, now in its third year, has caused immense human suffering. Although the conflict is ongoing, attention continues to be given to how to rebuild the country. Yet this massive investment will not materialize if investors cannot protect themselves from war risk. Across our businesses, we have the expertise and scale needed to advance a public-private partnership model to help underwrite Ukraine war risks and channel investments into the country.
International Flagship Project Award

Marsh McLennan is honored to have received the International Flagship Project Award for our support of the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine presented by the German and Ukrainian governments at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024. 

International Flagship Project Award

Marsh McLennan is honored to have received the International Flagship Project Award for our support of the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine presented by the German and Ukrainian governments at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024. 

 

The award was presented by Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany, and Volodymyr Kuzyo, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine. 

John Doyle, President & CEO, Marsh McLennan:
“Marsh McLennan is dedicated in our support of Ukraine – helping it attract global investment to rebuild the country, and recover from the devastating impact of war on its people and economy.”
A Cross-Enterprise Initiative
To support Ukraine's economic and social stabilization, Marsh McLennan has brought to bear the expertise of our four global businesses — Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, and Oliver Wyman — in strategy, insurance and reinsurance, financial regulation, and public-private partnerships. Our work demonstrates our commitment to Ukraine in helping international companies continue to successfully operate there while helping to rebuild the country, as highlighted during the Recovery Forum at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin.

Our efforts include:

Developing an innovative marine cargo war facility

Marsh McLennan was instrumental in developing the Black Sea Unity Facility, which became available in November 2023 and provides affordable insurance to cover grain shipments from Ukraine through the Black Sea in a heightened risk environment. The facility was needed after war risk insurance premium per voyage rose to unaffordable levels in the summer of 2023, with significant consequences for the humanitarian supply of grain to Africa and other regions, as well as on Ukraine’s economy.

Unity has since been expanded to cover ships carrying any cargo.

The project is a public-private partnership with the Ukraine government. Coverage includes ships, crews, and protection and indemnities from non-sanctioned nations trading to and from Ukraine, and transit on the Black Sea corridor and Danube River.

Estimates show that the opening up of the Black Sea corridor has led to a 7% increase in Ukraine’s GDP and has reduced insurance premiums to below pre-war levels.

Unity received the International Flagship Project Award during the 2024 Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin for its innovative approach to restoring insured marine trade in the Black Sea. 

Creating a risk data platform

We have provided pro-bono support to the Ukrainian government to create the War Risk Data Platform, providing the data needed for assessment and modelling of war risks in Ukraine. The platform gives investors, insurers, and governments access to granular war risk data to enable both assessment of individual risks and portfolio-wide strategy setting.

The platform aggregates data from the Ukraine government and shows, by location and time, a breakdown of events, including damage level. It also provides information on event type, such as an airstrike or UAV attack, and object type, such as energy or infrastructure.

The platform’s creation sprang from the difficulty within the insurance market to accurately assess risk in different parts of Ukraine, which left even specialist war-risk insurers unable to operate effectively in the market. Without available and affordable insurance, private investment at scale will not happen. The platform can also be used by governments to make informed judgements on travel advice.

Live since October 2023, the platform had more than 550 authorized subscribers by mid-2024. Among its findings: approximately 66% of Ukraine had been untouched by war-related incidents since February 22, 2022, and the violence has been concentrated on the front lines.

Designing a framework for a public-private risk pool

We have been supporting the UK and Ukrainian governments in scoping options for war-risk insurance, which was a key input to the London Conference Framework announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in 2023.

We have proposed the establishment of an innovative, multinational war-risk pool that we believe is required to enable the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine at scale.

Currently there is virtually no war-risk insurance available to provide cover for investments or property in Ukraine. The insurance industry – in Ukraine or elsewhere – has never habitually covered war-risks at anything approaching the scale required.

At the present time, the key risk in question – war – is ongoing – which presents a challenge for the insurance industry: the analogy being that you cannot insure your house when it is already on fire. Even once the current ‘hot’ phase of war has ended or significantly diminished, an elevated degree of risk will remain in the eyes of private (re)insurance markets for a number of years.

The market alone cannot provide a solution. Our proposal is for the creation of a war-risk pool, enabled by provision of a backstop by G7+ governments, that will create the conditions for the functioning of the conventional property insurance market.

This is analogous to the types of public-private partnerships developed by a number of G7 countries for various perils including terror risk – although on a larger scale and a novel multi-lateral basis.

Projects under development

Marsh McLennan continues to work to develop additional insurance resources in other areas, including (as of mid-2024):

Aviation insurance:  Developing affordable commercial aviation insurance for flights to and from western Ukraine.

Travel insurance: Along with aviation insurance, affordable travel insurance for business travelers is crucial for further investment in Ukraine’s recovery and business development. 

Energy insurance: Working to create a war risk insurance facility to cover replacement energy assets to enable Ukraine to address its energy crisis ahead of the winter months. 

Providing services

Our Marsh colleagues in Kyiv have continued to support clients and insurers in Ukraine even as the war is ongoing.

Supporting humanitarian efforts

Our colleagues swiftly mobilized in response to the humanitarian crisis, raising $1.4M dollars to support the people of Ukraine, hosting refugees in their homes and finding refugees opportunities for employment.

Our team of experts includes:  
Marcus Baker
Global Head of Marine & Cargo, Marsh
Marcus Baker is the Global Head of Marine & Cargo for Marsh. Marcus joined Marsh in 1994 and is based in Marsh's London office. He has over 35 years of experience and has been involved in all aspects of global marine and energy insurance. He serves as a Pension Fund Trustee for Marsh McLennan and have been a member of the Marsh Presidents Council since 2015.
Lennox Batten
Managing Director, Special Risks, Marsh JLT Specialty
Lennox is a Managing Director at Marsh Specialty. He is responsible for the servicing of both sports and commercial clients, with their focused needs on the placement of specialty personal accident and contingency insurances.
Rebecca Cadman
Senior Consultant, Oliver Wyman
Rebecca is a Senior Consultant at Oliver Wyman. She works with clients on strategic issues, translating them into practical solutions with tangible and meaningful results. Rebecca has five years of experience in coordinating diverse teams regionally, nationally, and internationally and fostering an inclusive and collaborative cross-working culture.
Crispin Ellison
Partner, Oliver Wyman
Crispin is a Partner in Oliver Wyman’s Health and Life Sciences and Public Policy practices. He advises senior government and health decision-makers on policy, strategy, performance improvement and cost reduction. He has worked with top government and parliamentary decision makers in the UK, the EU, and the Middle East. His clients include central government departments in the UK, EU commissioners and their teams, the UK National Health Service, and GCC governments.
Julian Enoizi
Global Head of Public Sector Practice, Guy Carpenter
Julian is Global Head of Guy Carpenter's Public Sector Practice. He works with clients at national, state and local levels across all geographic sectors served by Guy Carpenter and other Marsh McLennan businesses. He focuses on understanding the insurance and reinsurance needs of public sector organizations and their private sector partners. Based in London, Julian is frequently asked to speak internationally, and has given evidence to Parliamentary Enquiries and to the US Congress.
Andrew George
Global Head, Energy & Power, Marsh Specialty
Andrew is Global Head of Marsh’s Energy & Power Practice, based in London. He joined Marsh in 1988 and has undertaken a variety of roles to develop his expertise in the energy and power sector. In 2004, Andrew became leader of the Middle East and North Africa region for Marsh Energy; in 2008 he became CEO of Marsh Energy EMEA; in 2012 he was named Global Chairman of Marsh's Energy Practice; and in early 2015 this group was extended to create Marsh Energy & Power Practice. Andrew is a company appointed trustee of the MMC UK Pension Fund.
Garrett Hanrahan
Global Head of Aviation & Space, Marsh
Garrett joined Marsh in 2013, running the US Aviation Practice before taking on his current role as Global Head of Aviation & Space in 2020. He leads a team of aviation insurance specialists and supports clients through innovative data and analytics solutions. Garrett has over 25 years of experience in aviation insurance and is responsible for the production and servicing of large, complex commercial accounts in the airline, fixed wing and rotor wing, government contracting, aerospace manufacturing and financial institutions sectors of the aviation insurance business.
Roland Lasius
Partner, Oliver Wyman
Roland is a Partner in Oliver Wyman’s European Insurance & Asset Management practice, based in our London office. He has led engagements with (re)insurers across the UK and globally, with a focus on corporate and specialty insurance. He majors in strategy, risk effectiveness, and business model design.
Anna Maiorova
Strategy Consultant, Oliver Wyman
Anna is a Ukrainian Consultant at Oliver Wyman, based in our Paris office. She has supported clients on strategy projects in equipment manufacturing, facility management, and public sector. Before joining Oliver Wyman, Anna worked at an investment fund focused on energy transition, and at a climate adaptation scale-up.
Related insights
2023 Ukraine Recovery Conference

President and CEO John Doyle discusses Marsh McLennan's participation in the Ukraine Recovery Conference that brought together participants from the private and public sectors looking ahead to the future of Ukraine.

2023 Ukraine Recovery Conference

President and CEO John Doyle discusses Marsh McLennan's participation in the Ukraine Recovery Conference that brought together participants from the private and public sectors looking ahead to the future of Ukraine.

London Conference Framework

Announcement by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on War Risk Insurance for Ukraine identifying a set of principles to inform initiatives underway.

London Conference Framework

Announcement by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on War Risk Insurance for Ukraine identifying a set of principles to inform initiatives underway.