Latest Russia Headlines

All the headlines from our Russia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Russia Declares Emergency as Wildfires Kill 40, Displace Thousands

Aug 3 2010 // Russia’s leaders declared a state of emergency on Monday in seven provinces and ordered authorities to guard weapons storage facilities from wildfires that have killed at least 40 people.Thousands more have lost...

July’s Catastrophes Cause Widespread Losses Globally: Aon Benfield

Aug 3 2010 // Floods in Pakistan and China have taken thousands of lives and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes, according to a new report on catastrophic events in July by a reinsurance team.A European heatwave, wildfires in Russia...

Coface Receives Russian License; Aims to Be European Rating Agency

Jun 10 2010 // Credit insurer Coface announced from its Paris headquarters that the Russian state authority for insurance (FSSN) has granted a license to its subsidiary “ZAO Coface Rus Insurance Company” based in Moscow....

Pickering to Head Willis Russia, E. Europe, M.East, So. Africa Operations

May 27 2010 // Willis Group Holdings has appointed Scott Pickering as CEO, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South Africa, effective immediately. He will be based in the Al Futtaim Willis office in Dubai and will report to...

Russia Releases Captured Tanker Pirates

May 7 2010 // Russia has released pirates who hijacked an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden because there are no legal grounds to prosecute them in Moscow, a Defense Ministry official said on Friday.The decision reverses a plan to bring 10...

Somali Pirates Hijack China-bound Oil Tanker off of Yemen

May 5 2010 // Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked the China-bound oil tanker MV Moscow University 350 miles (565 km) off the coast of Yemen with 23 Russian crew and crude oil worth $52 million on board.“The oil is Chinese. It...

Legal Uncertainty, Prisoner Releases Making Piracy Problem Worse

Apr 9 2010 // Piracy off the coast of Somalia is getting worse, partly due to the legal limbo that has led some countries to release captured suspects, Russia’s U.N. envoy said this week.Over the past year and a half, the U.N....

Ratings Recap: AIA/AIAB, SOVAG, Coface, PhilNaRe, Generali Rueck

Mar 2 2010 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has placed its ‘A+’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on American International Assurance Co. Ltd. (AIA) and American International Assurance Co....

Ratings Recap: Transsib Re, AmerInst

Dec 31 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘B-‘ (Fair) and the issuer credit rating of “bb-” of Russia’s OJSC Transsiberian Reinsurance Corporation (Transsib Re), both with...

Ratings Recap: Cattolica, Ghana Re, Al Ittihad, Grafton, RCHL

Dec 22 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a” of Italy’s Societa Cattolica di Assicurazione – Societa Cooperativa. Both...

Ratings: NIPPONKOA, Russian Re, Lemma, Lakeside Re, Inter Hanover

Dec 18 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a” of Hong Kong-based NIPPONKOA Insurance Company (Asia) Limited, both with stable...

Negligence a Factor in Russian Power Plant Accident That Killed 75

Oct 5 2009 // Russia’s top industrial safety oversight official said Saturday that negligence was a major factor in a devastating accident at the country’s biggest hydroelectric power plant, and hinted that high-level...

Ratings Recap: Starr Surplus, Wethaq, Unity Re, Ansvar

Oct 1 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and an issuer credit rating of “a” to Chicago-based Starr Surplus Lines Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of...

S&P Affirms Allianz Russia Ratings; Revises Outlook to Negative

Sep 8 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Allianz Insurance JSC (Allianz Russia) to negative from stable and affirmed its ‘BBB-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer...

Russia Must Enter WTO before Joint EU Deal Says Envoy

May 22 2009 // The European Union’s trade commissioner ruled out on Friday finalizing a strategic pact with Russia before it joins the World Trade Organization and warned Moscow against introducing new protectionist...

Credit Insurer Coface Downgrades 28 Countries, 19 on Negative Watch

Apr 10 2009 // Trade credit insurer Coface notes that the current “credit crisis, which entered its second phase in the fourth quarter of 2008, is worsening in all regions. After observing a decline in the average financial...

Russia: Global Warming to Cause Droughts, Floods

Feb 19 2009 // Russia will likely see more forest fires, droughts and floods in the coming century due to global warming, and policy makers need to prepare for large-scale change, scientists warned in a report released Wednesday.It also...

S&P Foresees ‘Tough Times’ for Russian Insurers In 2009-2010

Feb 4 2009 // A report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services entitled, “Tough Times Will Challenge Russian Insurers In 2009-2010”, published on its RatingsDirect web site, concludes that “Russia’s...

Business Moves

Nov 30 2008 // Arthur J. Gallagher The HR GroupInternational insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported it has acquired The HR Group, LLC of Brentwood, Tennessee. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The HR Group...

Business Moves

Nov 30 2008 // Brown & Brown, Conner StrongFlorida- based Brown & Brown Inc. said it has agreed to acquire the small business insurance unit of Conner Strong Companies, Inc., which is headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey....