First – a snowy and cold winter, then heavy rains and storms, followed by a severe heat wave. 2022 turned out to be a very challenging year for farmers and this is reflected in the statistics of insurers – BTA Baltic Insurance Company (hereinafter – BTA) has paid more than 6 million euros to farmers in compensation for damaged crops this year. 

As the thick snow cover in the spring melted away, it revealed a sad picture that a large part of the crops in the central and eastern regions of the country had perished due to freezing or withered away. The severest losses were sustained in municipalities of Alūksne and Valmiera. In Kurzeme and Zemgale, part of the crops were destroyed by the cold, and part – by wild animals and birds. BTA paid out a total of 2.9 million euros in indemnities for occurrences of winter risks.

Although, the misfortunes of farmers did not cease in the summer. In the first half of July, many regions were hit by heavy rains and strong winds, resulting in lodgings of crops. The greatest damage was sustained by the winter wheat of the Skagen variety. In the summer, BTA paid out more than 3 million euros total in compensations to its customers.

"Unfortunately, the weather conditions have not spared the crops in the territory of Latvia this year – various natural phenomena have destroyed the crops in hundreds of hectares. Farmers still managed to resow part of the winter-damaged fields, but the weather extremes in the summer irreparably affected the amount of the harvested crops. In the first nine months of the year, we have paid more than 6 million euros in insurance indemnities to our customers," BTA Insurance Claims Handling Department Director Kārlis Liepiņš presents the sad statistics. 

BTA is the Latvian market leader in crop fields insurance, offering, for a streak of years, farmers to insure their crops, legumes and oil plants. BTA also is the pioneer insurer in Latvia, who offers an option to get insured against damages caused by wild animals and birds, as well as third-party illegal activity, lightning strike and fire risk. In the past years, various natural disasters become an increasing threat to crops, on the other hand, farmers now have an option to get their crop fields insured against adverse weather conditions, and this option also has earmarked funding from the European Union and the national budget, in the light of this, the Ministry of Agriculture has not planned any compensations be paid from the national budget, thus moving the protection of agricultural crops in the direction of the insurance realm.


About BTA
BTA Baltic Insurance Company is one of the leading insurance companies in the Baltics, offering the broadest range of non-life insurance services in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. BTA employs more than 1,000 employees in the Baltics. The sole shareholder of BTA is Vienna Insurance Group AG (VIG), the leading insurance group both in Austria and in the entire Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. Around 50 insurance companies in 30 countries form a Group with a long-standing tradition, strong brands and close customer relations. The more than 25,000 employees in the VIG take care of the day-to-day needs of more than 22 million customers. VIG shares have been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1994. The VIG Group has an A+ rating with stable outlook by the internationally recognised rating agency Standard & Poor's. VIG cooperates closely with the Erste Group, the largest retail bank in Central and Eastern Europe.


Additional information:
Elīna Zvejniece
Marketing and Public Relations Department Director 
BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS
e-mail elina.zvejniece@bta.lv 
phone: +371 66936074, mobile: +371 29374827