Poland's PZU acquires Ukraine's top insurance company
on Google
Poland’s top insurance firm, PZU, acquired a 100% stake in Ukraine’s largest life insurer, MetLife on May 4 as Polish companies increasingly move to secure an early foothold ahead of Ukraine's eventual reconstruction.
MetLife Ukraine makes up 50% of the Ukrainian market, earning nearly Hr 1 billion ($22.6 million) in profits last year from its 900,000 clients. The company offers individual and group life insurance, health insurance, accident insurance, and employee benefit programs.
PZU has been active in Ukraine for over two decades but sits several places below American-owned MetLife in the Ukrainian market.
The acquisition — for an undisclosed amount — will help scale the company’s activity in Ukraine, where the market is less saturated than its neighbors, PZU said in a public statement.
"The acquisition of MetLife Ukraine is an important step in the implementation of our long-term strategy for the development of a strong, international insurance and financial group in Central and Eastern Europe," PZU President Bogdan Benczak said in a statement.
Ukraine’s life insurance market is relatively underdeveloped, with just 10 firms. But its profits have grown steadily in recent years, expanding by 9.9% last year, according to Ukraine's National Association of Insurers.
The insurance sector has undergone consolidation and regulation over the last decade, shedding hundreds of companies thanks to cleanup efforts from Ukraine's National Bank.
Ukraine's insurance penetration indicator is still far below that of its neighbors — just 0.84% of gross domestic product (GDP) in October last year, compared to 2% in France. But the top end of the market is still profitable, with companies raking in Hr 7.5 billion ($170 million) in profits last year.
MetLife saw the biggest cash inflow last year and collected more than Hr 3 billion ($68 million) in insurance premiums — a 10.7% increase compared with 2024 — with life insurance premiums making up more than Hr 2 billion ($45 million).
PZU was able to insure the deal via Poland’s export credit agency, KUKE, which helps insure both Polish and non-Polish investors to support rebuilding Ukraine.
Polish firms have been among the most active in Ukraine, with the deal following Polish fintech Zen.com’s purchase of PINbank, a nationalized bank formerly owned by a former Russian oligarch, for $3.9 million last month.
The acquisition sent "a strong signal of confidence in Ukraine’s financial system and in its future integration with the European market," said Andrzej Duda, a member of the supervisory board of Zen.com and Poland’s president from 2015 to 2025.
The deals come ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk, Poland this summer, which will host thousands of Ukrainian business leaders seeking much-needed investment in the country’s fledgling economy.
