Insurance powerhouse Lloyd's talking to UN, ready to insure carriers of Ukrainian grain

The London-based company Lloyd's is negotiating with the United Nations on insurance coverage for Ukrainian grain carriers, subject to reaching a new agreement on the Black Sea Corridor, stated the company's CEO, John Neal, Reuters reports.

"Are we happy and able to continue to provide insurances in the event that a corridor can be re-operated and can be re-established? The answer to that is yes.. We are in active discussions with the UN about how that might happen," Neal told the agency.

Negotiations with the UN take into account the possibility of different structuring of insurance coverage, he added.

Provision of insurance is of crucial importance for goods exported from Ukraine. But without the intervention and permission of the UN, Lloyd's "would not have sanctioned the insurance".

The CEO of the company stated that Lloyd's losses from the war in Ukraine, excluding reinsurance, amount to $2 billion.

Earlier today, Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar confirmed that Ukraine submitted a proposal to Turkey to restore the operation of the "grain corridor" without Russia's participation.

Since there are no export restrictions on Ukrainian products for ships passing through the humanitarian corridor, such an alternative option may be one of the main ones to resolve the situation.

As of July 2022, insurance of ships with Ukrainian grain has increased in price 200 times.

After Russia's withdrawal from the grain agreement, insurance companies began to revise the insurance terms for vessels heading to Ukraine through the Black Sea Corridor.