Bulgarian insurance group Eurohold announced that it filed a lawsuit against Romania at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of what it claims to be the illegal bankruptcy of local subsidiary Euroins. Moreover, it also reconfirmed that it is preparing an arbitration request for the amount of over EUR 500 million at an international court in the US.

At the same time, Eurohold claimed that the lawsuit in Romania against ASF’s decision to withdraw Euroins’ operating license has recently started. 

Last June, the Bucharest Court decided to open bankruptcy proceedings in the case of Euroins, the former leader of third-party liability car insurance (RCA), whose share in this market segment exceeded 30% at the end of 2022.

Romania’s Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) announced in March 2023 that it found “elements of insolvency” at the country’s leading insurance firm, Euroins, and decided to withdraw the insurer’s license and file a bankruptcy request. The Bucharest Tribunal confirmed in June 2023 the state of insolvency and approved the bankruptcy procedure requested by the ASF in the case of insurer Euroins Romania.

After losing all the court appeals in Romania in this case, Eurohold announced in January 2024 that it would move forward with preparations for international arbitration. 

However, Eurohold, in a recent statement this February, also said that the lawsuit against ASF’s decision to withdraw Euroins’ operating license has just started. The court has previously rejected Eurohold’s request to suspend the enforcement of ASF’s decision, but the decision itself was never subject to a court ruling in Romania, it pointed out.

The Bulgarian group will ask for compensation as “the dispute regarding Euroins Romania was not resolved,” and the damages caused to the group will not be compensated accordingly following the ruling of the Romanian court.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: the company)