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In 2011, the Lithuanian Branch of the European Company BTA Insurance Company SE (hereinafter – BTA) operated profitably – the overall financial result of the last year was positive, BTA earned profit of LTL 3 million in Lithuania. The positive indicator of the Company’s performance was mostly (91%) predetermined by profit from direct insurance business and only its minor part is attributable to generated investments.

Insufficient safety distance is a most common cause of road traffic accidents. According to BTA Insurance Company – one of the leading companies in terms of Compulsory Insurance of Civil Liability in Respect of the Use of Motor Vehicles in Lithuania, almost 30% of traffic accidents happen because of insufficient safety distance, one fifth of traffic accidents are caused by wrong driving backwards, while bad weather conditions and pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions are among the most rare causes of traffic accidents. Such accidents account for 2.2% and 0.4%, respectively.

Last year in April BTA shared in an environmental project aimed at attracting people’s attention to the environment and resource saving. BTA joined the spring cleanup campaign which was followed by the Green Unity Concert as the crowning event of all BTA’s active initiatives.

The insurance company BTA, having assessed the amounts disbursed this and last winter to cover the customer’s losses, notes that winter of this year, compared to the last previous one, was not only considerably shorter and colder, but also has brought about higher loss rates for customers in certain types of insurance. BTA informs that events registered this winter in relation to transport and property reduced by 24%. According to the data of the insurance company this reduction was predetermined not by the fact that the winter was shorter, but rather by the introduction of new pricing which enables the company to know better a low-risk customer and to respectively increase the price for the potentially riskier driver. Meanwhile in terms of types of personal insurance and compared to the last year the number of events went up by one tenth. The average insurance benefit increased in all cases.

A survey of Lithuanian residents carried out by market and public opinion research company Spinter Research at a request of BTA Insurance Company has revealed that more than a half of the respondents choose an insurer by the following criteria: reliability of the insurance company, expeditious and just compensation for damages and acceptable prices for insurance services. Such aspects as personal relationship between a customer and insurance expert, clear insurance regulations or customer information on pending expiration of policies appeared to have been important only to one fourth of the respondents.

At last winter has come, albeit rather late, and snow, sleet and glazed frost persisting the whole week caused damage both on roads and in daily life. Every day BTA Insurance Company indemnifies damage to almost 350 clients, while this week when heavy snow started to fall and winter settled in Lithuania, the Company accepted almost by 20% more than usual claims of people who suffered losses.

The survey commissioned by BTA Insurance Company has shown that home insurance is the most popular type of insurance in Lithuania among the offered types of voluntary insurance. According to the survey data almost one third of participants of this survey at present have acquired home insurance. Accident insurance is in the second place among the residents’ priorities – this voluntary insurance is acquired by one fourth of the respondents who participated in this survey. While voluntary insurance of motor vehicles (CASCO) is rated only by 10% of the respondents.

According to BTA Insurance Company, 2011 demonstrated an increase in the number of home thefts compared to 2010. Last year, thefts in newly constructed apartment (up to 5 years) and, particularly, in private houses accounted for as many as 30% of claims.

The insurance company BTA informs that this year, compared with 2010, the share of policyholders opting for a simple, quick and convenient way to acquire motor vehicle or travel insurance online increased over 15%. BTA has noted the tendency that this year, differently from the previous year, more residents of small towns and districts obtain insurance via the internet. Web-based insurance is still most popular among residents of the capital city – as much as 44% of all concluded contracts, however the interest of residents of regions more remote from cities in the web-based insurance possibilities is also obvious. In 2011, the number of insurance contracts signed in such regions even by 24% exceeded the number of such contracts signed in 2010.

Comparison of customers’ activity in choosing voluntary types of insurance – Casco and property insurance – by BTA Insurance Company revealed that people are more sluggish about property insurance. According to insurers, owners of more expensive cars do not hesitate to obtain voluntary CASCO policies, but rather tend to forget to take care of more valuable property and contract for life, health or housing insurance.

The insurance company BTA informs that this year burglars are mostly interested in cars of BMW, Toyota and Mercedes Benz makes. The trim parts of this trio – mirrors, lamps, distance sensors, bumpers – are very popular. For example, last year BMW wheel protective caps deserved the greatest attention of burglars, while this year their eyes have turned to mirrors of BMW X5 and Toyota.

Though the heating season has just started and first heating bills have not yet reached the end users, they nevertheless have to puzzle as what to do in order to avoid likely damages relating to the testing of heating systems. According to BTA Insurance Company, quite many claims have been coming for two weeks about losses caused by measuring pressure in the heating system in apartment houses or starting up heating boilers in private residential houses after the summer off. Last week, the number of loss reports regarding damages caused by pipe ruptures and resulting water leaks from the ruptured pipes in flats or houses was by 12% bigger as compared to other months.

BTA Insurance Company is winning the award of international media leader World Finance for the second time. In 2010, BTA was awarded as “Insurer of the Year 2010, in Latvia”. The award won by BTA this year – “Insurance Company of the Year, Baltic States” confirms the recognition of the BTA business and achievements throughout the Baltic States.

September 22, the Word Free Car Day, is intended to draw society’s attention to negative effects of transport on the environment and human health. It is a day when governmental, business and public organisations encourage people to leave, at least on this day, their cars at home and get to work or studies on foot or by alternative modes of transport. In a number of countries, the most popular alternative is going by bike, which is associated not only with ecology and leisure time rich in content, but also with better safety as compared to other modes of transport.

According to the data of Insurance Company BTA, more than one third of total accidents relating to bone fractures, bruises, beaten teeth, split lips, foreheads or chins and head traumas are suffered by children under 18. Most of such accidents occur in autumn and spring time.

BTA data tells us that a third or 30% of accidents related to robberies, losses caused by third parties, vandalism etc. and real property occur in the summer. And most of the property afflicted is not insured.

Holiday seasons inevitably bring more diseases and other health problems involving the need for tourists to seek medical help in foreign countries. Insurance Company BTA informs that this year, same as in previous years, most claim report come not only from tourists in Egypt and Turkey, but also from holidaymakers in the Scandinavian countries and our neighbours Poland, Russia and Belarus. This year, cases involving the need for emergency medical aid to tourists abroad are by 1.5 times more compared to the last year.

Yesterday, on 29 June, in Vilnius the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia already for the fifth consecutive year selected and awarded the best performing companies of Latvian capital operating in Lithuania. During the Award Ceremony “Nameja Balva 2011” BTA Insurance Company won nomination of the “Largest Payer of Taxes into the Budget of Lithuania”.

Insurance Company BTA suggests that women tend more to contract for property insurance. According to the Company, the balance between property insurance contracts signed by women and men is 47% to 53% in favour of women. On the other hand, men are leading by the paid in premiums, i.e., 54% of property insurance premiums are paid by men and 46% - by women.

With the gross insurance premiums written for EUR 102 million (LTL 351.9 million), the BTA Group ranks the 3rd among the largest insurance companies of the Baltic Region. At the end of 2010, the BTA Group owned 18.21% of the insurance market of the Baltic States – Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

Statistics of Insurance Company BTA reports that failures in water supply systems account for 85% of all accidents occurring in apartment houses. For comparison, accidents of this type in private houses make 20% of al risks covered. Attention should be paid to old-construction houses which are now subject to renovation. The renovations usually include replacement of windows, heat insulation of walls, but old water supply systems in most cases remain non-replaced. A group of the highest risks includes apartment houses with original plumbing and water supply systems built in 1970 - 1989 as well as apartment houses built during the last decade.

The Non-life Insurance Company BTA published its financial results of the last year. In 2010, BTA insurance profit in Lithuania amounted to LTL 4,072 million and was by 19.5% larger than in 2009.

In the end of August of the last year the travel organiser “Star Holidays” faced financial difficulties due to suspension of license of the airline company Star1 Airlines”. “BTA” Insurance Company is one of the insurers providing guarantees for the financial obligations of “Star Holidays” and after the establishment of the fact of insolvency of the travel organiser was directly involved in arranging and payment for the transportation to Lithuania of several hundreds of Lithuanian tourists with a group of children among them who found themselves in such difficulty.

The Insurance Company BTA, having analysed the Company’s insured events of 2010 for the type of insurance against civil liability in respect of use of vehicles informs that the highest accident rate is registered for BMW model cars.

The Green Unit Concert 2011 will be held in Vilnius on April 16. The main purpose of the concert is to communicate a simple but crucial message how each of us can live in harmony with nature. To this effect, the general sponsor of the concert, BTA Company, and the organisers of the concert announce the Eco-Friendly Enterprise Contest and invite all eco-friendly enterprises to take part by sharing information about their current or anticipated efforts aimed at taking daily business solutions that are not only eco-friendly but also contributing to the preservation of nature.

Gaining popularity each year, this year the spring cleanup campaign again invites Lithuanian residents to support the eco-idea, share social and civic community activities and contribute to the cleanness of our country. March and April have been traditional months for taking care of one’s own environment, cleaning and improving residential zones so that we can enjoy neat yards, clean parks and river banks as well as cosy work and recreation zones all year long.

More than three year ago BTA launched a novelty to the market – opportunity to contract for insurance on line. This service was available for Compulsory Motor Third Party Liability Insurance and Travel Insurance. Today users of BTA e-commerce website www.epolisas.lt enjoy an opportunity to submit inquiries about other classes of insurance too, for example about Property Insurance or Casco Insurance. According to BTA, people’s interest in obtaining insurance coverage is increasing every year in all classes of insurance and in all groups of age.

The World Lithuanians Alpine Skiing Amateur Association (PLKSMA) is organising an expedition to Antarctica, the most distant, severe and difficult-to-access place on Earth, which will see the first ever mountain skiing race. Insurance Company BTA provided Travel Insurance policies to a group of 28 Lithuanians travelling to Antarctica.

In 2010, gross premiums written by BTA group companies in Lithuania amounted to nearly LTL 133 million, meaning the stable second position among non-life insurers in Lithuania. The market share of the BTA group jumped from 12.6% in 2009 to 13.1% in 2010. Last year BTA paid down more than LTL 76.8 million in insurance benefits which is by 1.2% y-o-y. This increase was mainly influenced by Property Insurance and Suretyship Insurance.

A branch office of BTA Joint-Stock Insurance Company in Lithuania has launched for the market and its customers a new kind of accident insurance – medical expense insurance. By adding a new risk to the range of risks covered, the Company offers an opportunity to its customers contracting for Accident Insurance to choose the mentioned risk on a complementary basis. In case of occurrence of an accident involving medical services at health care institutions, medical expenses of the insured person will be covered.

We are only half-way through winter and insurers hardly manage to register in time sustained traumas and to pay insurance benefits to victims. During the period between December 2010 and January 2011, “BTA” registered twice as many events as at the same time last year. Benefits disbursed this December, compared with the same period of the last year, almost tripled.

On 1 January 2011, Insurance Company UAB BTA Draudimas started functioning in Lithuania as a branch office of BTA Joint-Stock Insurance Company. With a view to more efficient managing of corporate financial and organisational resources, the process of reorganisation was started last year by the resolution of the Company’s shareholders. The reorganisation has been finalised by merging UAB BTA Draudimas to BTA Joint-Stock Insurance Company.

This year, cold and extremely snowy December is bringing record-breaking losses to Lithuanian residents. Insurance Company BTA Draudimas reports a significantly higher number of registered incidents within 21 day of this December year-on-year. More than a thousand losses were reported to BTA Draudimas about events covered under various insurance classes, and this is even by 26% more compared to December last year.

According to the insurance company “BTA Draudimas” residents of Lithuania all year round like spending their holidays in different countries of Europe, Africa or Asia, however from late spring until early autumn the most popular country, as a rule, is Turkey, followed by Spain and Greece where the number of people spending their holidays is slightly smaller. In winter when the skiing season begins, the most popular countries are Austria, Slovakia and Italy, while for those who like sun, resorts of Egypt have no rivals.

On 29 September 2009, extraordinary meeting of the shareholders of UAB BTA DRAUDIMAS resolved to merge UAB BTA DRAUDIMAS and Latvian insurance undertaking BTA Apdrošinašanas Akciju Sabiedriba (ID number LV40003159840, authorised capital – 10,000,000 latas, head office address: K. Valdemara 63, LV – 1142, Riga, Republic of Latvia). After completion of the merger, UAB BTA DRAUDIMAS will cease to exist as a legal person, while BTA Apdrošinašanas Akciju Sabiedriba will continue operations of taken over UAB BTA DRAUDIMAS through its branch office registered in the Republic of Lithuania. With regard to the above mentioned, UAB BTA DRAUDIMAS notifies on its intention to transfer its rights and obligations under contracts made by UAB BTA DRAUDIMAS to BTA Apdrošinašanas Akciju Sabiedriba.

On the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day Lithuanian people are actively visiting cemeteries. These are the days when traffic flows become heavier and therefore patrolling on the roads is increased.

According to research by the advertising agency DDB Latvija, the business magazine Kapitāls and the market, social and media research agency TNS Latvia on the best loved brands in Latvia, BTA has taken top spot among the insurers and fifth place in the financial sector overall, ahead of almost all Latvian banks.

After financial difficulties suffered by Star1 Airlines and consequent suspension of the license for the company at the end of September, travel organiser Star Holidays also appeared in a difficult business situation, pushing about 650 tourists from Lithuania, including a group of children, to a hopeless situation. Thanks to the efforts of the Lithuanian State Department of Tourism and Insurance Company BTA Draudimas, Lithuanian tourists forcedly stuck in Turkey, Spain and Crete were provided assistance and transported home in one weekend. Some of them had to terminate their holidays and more than a thousand people, who had booked tickets using Star Holidays services, failed to go on holiday as a result of the incident.

This year three insurance companies from Latvia were nominated for the World Finance award. The award went to the Joint Stock Insurance Company BTA, which was recognised as the best insurance company in Latvia. The award was also presented to another 55 insurers from other countries around the world.

Insurance Company BTA Draudimas reports operating with profit and earning LTL 1.4 million profit in the Lithuanian non-life insurance market within the first semester 2010.

Basing on the Company’s data, Insurance Company BTA Draudimas, reports a 9.2% increase in the average accident rate, as compared to summer months, and a 4.7% increase, as compared to all other months of a year. Taking into account the data of the past 5 years, the Company warns that the coming September 1st is one of the days which requires particular care and alertness on the part of drivers.

The total profit of BTA Group companies before taxes totalled LTL 18.86 million in the first half of 2010, which is by 14% more year-on-year. This indicator includes the performance of BTA companies both in the Baltic States and in other European countries where BTA has been actively expanding its activities over the past few years.

After the weekend’s storm blow, BTA continues to register customers’ claims for damages and compensation for loss.

Insurance Company BTA Draudimas informs about a significant increase in residents’ inquiries about short-term property insurance in relation to the coming long weekend of Midsummer Day.

Insurance Company UAB BTA Draudimas announced free of charge assistance on the road to the drivers who contract for annual Compulsory Motor Third Party Liability Insurance (CMTPLI) in June.

Yesterday, on 26 May, the elections of the best Latvian company in Lithuania were held in Shakespeare Hotel for the fourth year in succession by the Latvian Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania in co-operation with the Latvian Embassy. UAB BTA Draudimas won the “Nameja Balva 2010” award in the category Best Social Partner.

Basing on the review of figures reflecting insurance contracts signed in Compulsory Motor Third Party Liability Insurance, insurance company by UAB BTA Draudimas confirms a continuing decrease in the market for this class of insurance. Insurance contracts signed by the Company within the first quarter last year amounted to more than LTL 21 million, as compared to LTL 18.5 million within the same period this year. This shows a 12% decrease year-on-year.

To take care of customers precisely when they need it most, i.e. car breakdown or flat tyre, BTA has significantly expanded the range of services to Casco customers, introducing free of charge assistance on the rode. In addition, this service will be provided not only in Lithuania, but also in the EU Member States and the European part of the CIS!

In 2009, gross premiums written by Joint Stock Insurance Company BTA amounted to LTL 242 million (EUR 70.1 million), making 23.2% of the non-life or risk insurance market in Latvia. Although the overall insurance market is currently facing a downturn, this is still the highest indicator among non-life insurance companies in Latvia. In Latvia, BTA also holds leading positions in terms of paid out insurance benefits: the Company paid out insurance benefits amounting to LTL 151 million (EUR 43.8 million). BTA is also the only insurance company in Latvia providing its customers with all possible non-life insurance services in eighteen insurance classes in total.