The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development plans to widen the Ukraine war-risk reinsurance facility it built with Aon, after the scheme reached full use in about nine months, the bank told GTR.
The Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction Guarantee Facility, or URGF, gives Ukrainian insurers more reinsurance capacity for war-related risks.
The cover applies to inland cargo, motor own damage and railway rolling stock, where local carriers still face pressure from war exposure and limited transfer options.
The facility started operating in March 2025. During its first nine months, it insured €360 mn in cumulative goods and vehicle movements, according to the multilateral development bank. The EBRD said it now wants to increase the scheme’s size with support from international partners, with the EU named as a main backer.
The EBRD and Aon first worked with Ukrainian insurers Ingo, Colonnade and Uniqa to place policies under the facility. MS Amlin joined as the first international reinsurer.
The original guarantee scheme had a size of €110 mn. It still backed a larger volume of cover because each short-term policy released capacity after expiry, allowing the facility to recycle limit into new risks.
Demand has now moved ahead of available capacity. The EBRD pointed to a shortage in the existing URGF business lines and said it wants to add more eligible assets, starting with logistics-adjacent activities.
Market feedback is that supply of insurance against war-related risks remains constrained – local insurers still report limited capacity to offload such risks to reinsurers, which weigh on their balance sheet. This is reflected in the strong uptake of the EBRD-Aon facility.
EBRD
According to Beinsure analysts, the facility’s fast use shows a wider problem in Ukraine’s commercial insurance market. Insurers need war-risk cover to keep transport and trade moving, yet reinsurers still price the exposure cautiously. Balance-sheet strain follows. No mystery there.
The lender also sees strong demand to move the scheme into energy-related assets. It doesn’t expect that step in the near term. The EBRD said energy assets need greater scale and more underwriting data before insurers price them on a durable basis.
Aon declined to comment when GTR approached the broker.
URGF sits inside a broader EBRD effort to keep Ukraine’s private sector operating during the war and reconstruction period. In 2025, the bank deployed €550 mn in Ukraine through its Trade Facilitation Programme.
The EBRD also works with the World Bank on a separate price stabilisation mechanism intended to draw private investment into renewable energy. The bank expects that structure to support 1GW of new renewable capacity and mobilise about €1.5 bn in investment.
Private companies accounted for 57% of the EBRD’s Ukraine investment volume in 2025. More than 90% of the individual projects it backed went to private enterprises.
The European Commission approved a €1.5 bn reinsurance scheme to cover war-related transport risks in Ukraine. Poland backs the scheme, which supports insurance for freight transport across Ukrainian territory.
The initiative aims to sustain trade routes between Ukraine and the European Union, particularly through Poland, which shares the EU’s longest land border with Ukraine.
The scheme approved will contribute to maintaining and facilitating transport of goods between the EU and Ukraine, disrupted by the ongoing Russian aggression, while ensuring that any potential competition distortions are kept to a minimumTeresa Ribera, EC executive vice president
Poland’s export credit agency KUKE will provide the reinsurance. It covers losses caused by military action, sabotage, terrorism, uprisings, and riots.
Insurers operating in Poland will offer the policies, while KUKE will assume 80% of the war risk. Insurers will retain the remaining 20%. KUKE will charge a premium after deducting acquisition and administrative costs.
