On May 4, 2026, PZU signed an agreement to acquire MetLife Ukraine – the country’s largest life insurer. The American company controls 49 percent of the market, serves 900 thousand clients and posted a net profit of €21 million in 2025. Despite the war, MetLife’s net margin exceeded 55 percent – five times higher than PZU Życie in Poland. The transaction is covered by KUKE. The price was not disclosed, but analysts estimate that the Polish giant paid a discount to equity.
PZU is Poland’s largest insurance group, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, with assets reaching PLN 132 billion at the end of 2025. The company has long pursued a strategy of expansion in Central and Eastern Europe, already having a presence in Ukraine through PZU Ukraina – a company offering property and motor insurance, founded in 2006. Until now, PZU Ukraina did not operate in the life insurance segment. The acquisition of MetLife fills this gap.
MetLife Ukraina is a subsidiary of the American conglomerate MetLife Inc., one of the world’s largest insurers headquartered in New York. The American group entered Ukraine in 2005 by acquiring a local insurance company. Over two decades, it built a leading position in the life market with a share of 49 percent, which in practice means that every second life insurance policy in Ukraine was sold by MetLife.
The Ukrainian life insurance market is deeply consolidated. According to data from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) of February 2026, the three largest players account for 78 percent of total gross written premiums. MetLife Ukraina with 49 percent is the clear leader, followed by TAS Life (about 18 percent) and UNIQA Life (about 11 percent). PZU so far has had no life products in Ukraine, so the acquisition of MetLife gives the company a leap in scale.
In absolute figures: MetLife Ukraina generated €38 million in premium revenue (around PLN 170 million) and €21 million in net profit (around PLN 94 million) in 2025. The net profit margin is therefore over 55 percent – a level unseen in mature insurance markets in Western Europe, where margins hover around 10-15 percent. The company’s total assets at the end of 2025 reached €249 million (approx. PLN 1.1 billion), and equity stood at €99 million (approx. PLN 444 million). Return on equity (ROE) was estimated at about 20 percent. By comparison, PZU as a group had an ROE of 15.6 percent in 2025.
– The acquisition of MetLife Ukraina is an important step in implementing our long-term strategy of building a strong international insurance and financial group in Central and Eastern Europe. We are investing in a market leader with an experienced team and a resilient business model, which strengthens our presence in Ukraine and significantly increases the scale of our life insurance operations – said Bogdan Benczak, CEO of PZU.
Insurance from KUKE
The transaction is covered by insurance offered by KUKE – the Export Credit Insurance Corporation, a Polish government agency that secures Polish investments abroad. KUKE offers insurance against political risk, war risk, currency transfer risk and expropriation. In practice, this means that if, as a result of an escalation of the war or regulatory changes in Ukraine, PZU loses its investment, KUKE will cover part of the loss. The premium amount and scope of coverage have not been disclosed, but standard for investments in countries affected by armed conflict, the premium is 1.5-2.5 percent of the insured value annually.
KUKE operates under a 2001 act and is 100 percent state-owned. In 2025, it insured Polish exports and investments worth PLN 54 billion, and has been active in Ukraine since 2014, when after the annexation of Crimea it began offering special products for companies operating in the east. According to KUKE data of February 2026, the total value of insured Polish investments in Ukraine exceeded PLN 4.2 billion.
– Our investment and the way it is being carried out show that we can combine responsible risk management with long-term strategic thinking. We invest where we have experience, local presence and a real ability to create value – even in difficult market conditions – said Bogdan Benczak.
900 thousand customers
MetLife Ukraina serves about 900 thousand individual and group customers. In a country that in 2025, according to UN estimates, had about 32 million inhabitants (after accounting for refugees and war losses), 900 thousand policies means a market penetration rate of less than 3 percent. By comparison, in Poland the penetration rate for life insurance exceeds 35 percent. The Ukrainian market therefore has enormous growth potential.
MetLife Ukraina’s portfolio includes individual products (life insurance with health cover, accident insurance) and group products (employee benefit programmes for companies, insurance for employees of large enterprises). One of MetLife Ukraina’s largest clients is Ukrainian state railway Ukrzaliznytsia, which covers some 230 thousand of its employees with life insurance. Another large client is agribusiness Kernel Holding, which buys policies for employees at its 27 grain and sunflower oil processing plants.
The distribution agreement with Ukrzaliznytsia runs until the end of 2028 and was signed before the war, in 2020. Under the terms of the agreement, MetLife Ukraina pays the state railway a commission of 8 percent of each premium – standard on the Ukrainian corporate insurance market.
War profitability
MetLife Ukraina’s net profit in 2025 was €21 million, up 7 percent year-on-year (profit in 2024 was €19.6 million). Growth during the war is surprising, but has its reasons. First, life insurers are less exposed to war losses than property insurers (who have to pay compensation for destroyed homes, factories, cars). Life insurance pays out benefits mainly in the event of death or permanent disability. The war increased the number of deaths, but at the same time many policies excluded coverage for death as a result of military action. MetLife Ukraina, like most insurers, introduced a war clause after 24 February 2022, excluding payouts for new policies. For old policies taken out before the war, clauses varied, but many did not exclude war, which generated losses. Those losses, however, were offset by high investment income.
MetLife Ukraina’s assets of €249 million are mainly Ukrainian government bonds (about 60 percent of the portfolio) and bank deposits. In 2025, the yield on Ukrainian government bonds for foreign investors averaged 18.5 percent in hryvnia (after conversion to euro – about 12 percent due to hryvnia depreciation). It was this high interest income that drove MetLife’s profits.
– The Ukrainian life insurance market remains relatively underpenetrated compared to countries in the region, which creates significant long-term growth potential. At the same time, the sector has undergone deep consolidation and restructuring in recent years, which has strengthened the stability of the entities operating there – said Bogdan Benczak.
Why MetLife is leaving?
MetLife Inc. is an American giant headquartered in New York, listed on the NYSE, with a market capitalisation of $52 billion (as of April 2026). In 2025, the group generated $72 billion in revenue. So why is it selling its profitable Ukrainian business? Officially, MetLife has not given a reason. Analysts point to two factors. First, after 2022, many American companies reduced their exposure to markets deemed high risk due to shareholder pressure and rising costs of war risk insurance. MetLife insured its Ukrainian subsidiary internally, but premiums were rising. Second, MetLife is focusing on markets where it has scale – the United States, Japan, Latin America. Ukraine, even with 49 percent market share, accounted for a fraction of a percent of the group’s revenue. Selling to Poland’s PZU allows it to tidy up its portfolio and concentrate on its main markets.
The transaction price has not been disclosed. Analysts at brokerage house Trigon DM estimate that PZU paid between €120 and €160 million, which at MetLife Ukraina’s equity of €99 million gives a price-to-book value (P/BV) ratio of 1.2-1.6. In transactions on mature life insurance markets, the P/BV ratio is usually 1.5-2.0, so the price is in the lower range. Given the war risk – that is a fair price.
Polish capital in wartime
PZU has been operating in Ukraine continuously since 2006. Throughout that period, including after 2022, the company did not suspend operations, did not evacuate, did not sell assets. In 2022 and 2023, PZU Ukraina recorded losses from motor and property claims (damaged cars, bombed offices), but has returned to profitability since 2024. According to PZU’s 2025 annual report, the Ukrainian non-life company generated PLN 4.2 million in net profit.
The acquisition of MetLife Ukraina will make PZU a de facto monopoly in life insurance in Ukraine – 49 percent of the market is a position with no competition. The second player, TAS Life, has 18 percent. The third, UNIQA Life, has 11 percent. Neither can threaten the leader. For the Ukrainian regulator, the National Bank of Ukraine, market concentration may be a problem. The NBU has the right to veto transactions that lead to excessive concentration. However, in practice, the NBU supports the inflow of foreign investment, especially from NATO countries. In 2025, the NBU approved the acquisition of Ukrainian bank Ukrgasbank by Hungary’s OTP, although OTP already had stakes in other banks. Similar approval is likely for PZU.
