In 2017, the budget allocated for the State Fund scheme for the co-financing of agricultural insurance premiums will amount to 1.5 million Lev (about 766,776 Euro), as decided in a meeting of the Governing Council of the State Fund "Agriculture" (SFA), reports Investor.bg.

The first annual SOS Children's Villages Bulgaria awards ceremony took place on 26 January 2017. The organisation honoured its benefactors and partners, and thanked them for the collaboration and support they provided to at-risk children and those deprived of parental care. NN Pension Insurance Bulgaria received the prize for 'The Most Significant Corporate Partner'. Anastas Petrov, CEO of NN Pension Insurance Bulgaria, said NN supports a number of projects that support children and students in Bulgaria. 'Children are our future. We believe that supporting SOS Children's Villages and their cause is an investment in the development of a better and happier tomorrow for our country.'

The assets managed by Bulgarian insurance companies reachеd 6.6 billion levs (3.37 billion euro) at the end of December, up by 8.2% year-on-year, the country's central bank said on Monday.

Bulgarian financial and insurance group Starcom Holding raised its stake in local peer Eurohold Bulgaria to 60.58% from 50.05% following a capital hike, Eurohold said on Monday.

Bulgaria's insurance companies and pension funds are stable, though five small insurers will have to raise funds to meet capital requirements, an asset and a balance sheet review carried by the financial regulator showed on Friday, Reuters reports.

Financial and insurance group Eurohold Bulgaria said on Friday Euroins Romania's capital has been raised to 530 million lei ($126 million/117.4 million euro).

KBC is set to make its first big acquisition in emerging Europe since the financial crisis after winning the bidding to buy Bulgaria's fourth-largest lender from National Bank of Greece (NBG). The Belgian group will pay EUR 610 million for United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) after beating off competition from Hungary's OTP Bank. The purchase price also includes NBG's Bulgarian leasing subsidiary, Interlease. The acquisition will propel KBC into the number three slot in the Bulgarian banking market, a position the group has targeted since acquiring small local lender CiBank in 2007.

Belgian-based KBC Group (KBC) and the National Bank of Greece (NBG), the Greek parent company of United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), reached agreement for KBC to acquire ownership of UBB (99.9%) - the fourth-largest bank in Bulgaria in terms of assets and INTERLEASE (100%), the third-largest provider of leasing services in the country, for a total consideration of EUR 610 million.

At the end of September 2016, the Bulgarian insurance market totaled about EUR 781 million, 8% more y-o-y, statistical data published by the FSC - Financial Supervision Commission show. Life insurers ended the first three quarters with an aggregate profit of EUR 16.9 million (vs. EUR 12.3 million in 3Q2015), while the non-life insurers reported an aggregated after tax result of EUR 33.1 million (vs. EUR 29.6 million).

Financial and insurance group Eurohold Bulgaria said on Tuesday it will raise its capital by 84.9 million levs (43.4 million euro), equal to 66.6% of its current capital.

The assets managed by Bulgarian insurance companies reachеd 6.5 billion levs (USD 3.5 bilion/3.3 billion euro) at the end of September, up by 10.5% year-on-year, the country's central bank said on Wednesday.

Bulgaria's financial regulator said it has hired global consultancy EY to advise it in conducting stress tests of the insurance and reinsurance sector.

According to data published by the FSC - Financial Supervision Commission, Bulgarian insurers recorded in 1H2016 a GWP worth EUR 528.15 million, 5.6% up y-o-y. Two were the business segments with a relevant contribution to the market's growth: life insurance, which saw a record high growth in premium volume (~44%) on the Unit-Linked insurance line and the motor insurance lines, the Motor Hull and MTPL lines' contribution, in absolute terms, to the GWP growth being almost equal.

Bulgaria-based Euroins Insurance Group (EIG), which also operates in Romania, Macedonia and Ukraine, expects sustainable growth in the company's premium income in the coming years, its CEO said.

Belgian lender KBC has expressed interest in acquiring Bulgaria's fourth-largest bank by assets, United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), Belgian media reported on Thursday. KBC has contracted international financial company JP Morgan to help it with the procedure, according to the online edition of newspaper L'Echo.

Bulgarian agricultural producers may submit their insurance policies to the regional directorates of the SFA. A total of 442 applications totalling 2,097,892 Lev (about 1.07 million Euro) have already been filed for the State aid scheme for the co-funding of insurance premiums to insure agricultural productions. For now, 399 contracts worth 1,394,630 lev (about 712,776 Euro) have been signed.

The assets managed by Bulgarian insurance companies grew by 10.3% year-on-year to reach 6.6 billion levs (3.4 billion euro) at the end of June, the country's central bank said on Tuesday.

Financial and insurance group Eurohold Bulgaria [BUL:4EH] posted a consolidated net profit of 17.9 million levs (9.16 million euro) for the first half, reversing a loss of 2.7 million levs for the same period last year.

The premium income of Bulgarian insurer Euroins [BUL:5IC] fell 15.6% on the year to 31.1 million euro in the first seven months of 2016, its parent company, Eurohold Bulgaria said.

More than 500,000 vehicles in Bulgaria lack the obligatory third-party liability insurance. This is what Vladimir Todorov, Chairperson of the Association of Victims of Road Accidents, said speaking for Radio FOCUS.