MH17 Desaster Is Financial Concern to Reinsurer Hannover Rück

Hannover (Aug 7^th) – Hannover Rück SE calculates to stand in with several tens of million Euro for the crash of an Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 over Eastern Ukraine. As the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported Thursday, the third largest reinsurer in the world does already prepare for what will probably will be the biggest single event in the company’s books this year. During the incident widely known under the flight number MH17, all 298 crew and passengers lost their lives on July 17^th this year.

MH17 crash side. Pic: AFP

The paper reported that the financial director of Hannover Rück, Roland Vogel, said in a board meeting on Wednesday it would still be too early to give qualified figures for the damage done and the implications for the reinsurers. At the same time it is still unknown how much the main of MH17 insurer - Allianz - is to pay. As another question it is still debated in the legal community if and in what respect Ukraine or Russia can be held responsible. While a SA-11 ‘Gadfly’ anti-aircraft missile hit the airliner in Ukrainian airspace it is widely agreed that Russian forces provided rebels in the area with equipment and possibly radar information necessary to execute the operation. 

AU/pvk