Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial stability of Russian insurers

The end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. - is a period when the crisis in economies around the world was caused by a factor completely unrelated to them. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all areas of economic activity, including the insurance sector of the Russian economy. The new living conditions have had an impact on the demand for insurance products and insurance companies have had to adapt to these conditions, including at the cost of their own financial sustainability. The paper analyzes this effect on the financial stability of insurance organizations using the system of indicators proposed by Blazhevich O.G. The work reveals the low financial stability of the largest insurers of the Russian Federation as such, as well as its negative dynamics in the pandemic COVID-19. By most indicators of financial stability insurance companies do not meet the normative values. The main factor behind this has been the companies’ focus on positive equity share dynamics. In 2020 the increase in the equity capital ratio of some market players was as high as 25.25%. In turn, indicators that are important in the long term have not received adequate attention from Russian insurers. For example, the debt reduction of some organisations in 2020 was at -21.9%. Based on the study, recommendations are made to improve the financial stability of insurers, with an indication of the sources of resources required to implement these measures.