PSB adds Crimea and Sevastopol to state-backed war risk cover for road freight

According to interfax.ru, PSB, a Russian state-owned bank, has updated the description on its website of how war risks are included in cargo insurance policies at no extra premium. There are two changes. Cover now extends to personal risks for those involved in the transport, and the list of territories now includes the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. The agency published the report on 5 November.

The changes concern policies issued under the state support scheme. According to the bank, such a policy covers war risks without raising the insurance premium. The client pays the market price for a standard policy and receives war risk cover as part of it.

How the state-backed policy works

The key participant in the scheme is the Russian National Reinsurance Company (RNPK), a subsidiary of the Bank of Russia, Russia’s central bank. No policy can be issued without its consent: the insurer must first agree the decision to provide cover with RNPK. Any war risk payout is also agreed with RNPK.

For road transport, essential goods can be insured with state support. PSB advises checking the exact list of such goods with RNPK. Besides cargo, policies that include war risks can cover damage to containers and tank containers, railway rolling stock and vessels under the Russian flag. The report does not say what terms apply to these types of property.

The new element in the updated description concerns people. On the same terms, with no surcharge for war risks, insurers can now cover the lives and health of those involved in the transport: drivers and crews, as well as freight forwarders.

PSB lists the territories where the scheme applies as follows:

provides for the possibility of including war risks in the insurance cover of certain categories of property in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol

From interfax.ru

An insurance market expert told Interfax that Crimea and Sevastopol had been added specifically to the list of places where state support applies to road freight. He named two conditions for the vehicle: it must be registered in Russia, and it must hold a valid OSAGO policy, Russia’s compulsory motor third-party liability insurance.

How payouts work

PSB sets out the claims procedure step by step. When an insured event occurs, the insurance company carries out its standard claims procedures and agrees the amount of compensation with RNPK. Once the amount is agreed, the insurer pays the beneficiary. The final step remains between the insurer and the reinsurer:

RNPK then reimburses the insurer for the payout under the existing state support mechanism

From interfax.ru

The beneficiary plays no part in this step. The report does not give timeframes for approval by RNPK.

PSB Insurance is not the only company selling state-backed policies. RNPK’s other partners in cargo insurance include SOGAZ, Astro-Volga, Sberbank Insurance, Yugoria, Zetta Insurance, Sovcombank Insurance, TIT, Helios and Energogarant.

About the insurer

PSB Insurance, the PSB group’s general insurer, ranked 46th among insurers by total premiums in the first half of 2026, up from 48th a year earlier. In cargo insurance it ranked 33rd for the same half-year, unchanged from a year earlier.

In January-June 2026 the company collected 2.5 billion roubles (about $30 564 000) in premiums, up 22.7% on the first half of 2025. Payouts totalled 986.2 million roubles (about $12 057 000), down 0.5%. Cargo insurance premiums rose 20% to 34.8 million roubles (about $425 000), with no payouts in this line. Cargo accounts for 1.4% of the company’s total premiums, while the largest share, 62.8%, comes from voluntary health insurance.

What this means for carriers and forwarders

Carriers trucking goods to Crimea and Sevastopol can now get war risk cover for the price of a standard policy, as was already the case for the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Before taking out a policy, they should check three things: whether the cargo is on the list of essential goods, whether the vehicle is registered in Russia, and whether it holds a valid OSAGO policy.

Forwarders who accompany cargo themselves and companies with their own drivers should ask their insurer about the new life and health cover. The report does not make clear whether it applies to forwarders who do not travel with the cargo.

The PSB report does not mention air transport. If cargo arrives by air and then travels on to these regions by road, shippers should ask an insurer on RNPK’s partner list about cover for the road leg.