The natural disasters enhanced by climate change – strong storms, heat and periods of drought – make life difficult not only for farmers, but also for foresters. To reduce the risks of young stands and forest owners, BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS (hereinafter – BTA) encourages considering BTA Forest Insurance.

Forests have always been considered Latvia's wealth, and people have increasingly begun to realize their worth and perceive them as an investment in the future. Young stands are created with the idea that in 20 or 30 years the trees will be able to be felled and money obtained for a peaceful, prosperous retirement days. However, forests also face various threats. They can be destroyed by fires, trees are often uprooted or broken by storms and attacked by insects, while new stands are tempting meals for wild animals. Forest insurance means that even in such an unpleasant scenario, the owner will not suffer losses.

"Forest insurance is a brand new product in the BTA product range, but the interest of forest owners is already great. We have produced dozens of offers and concluded the first policies. About a half of all the forests in Latvia belong to private land owners, whose total number is about 135 thousand. However, only a small forest area has been insured so far. The insurance offered by BTA will suit the needs of forest owners regardless of their property size, because, as we know, the value of the forest only increases in the long term, and the forest is not protected from accidents, which mainly are unsteady weather or climate damages," explains Ivo Danče, BTA Baltic Risk Underwriting Department Director.

BTA offers insurance protection against the risks of fire, storm, theft, wild animals, snow-break and insects. The contract provides that the insurance object is a forest stand – a forest of homogeneous forest growth conditions, tree species composition and age. Before concluding the contract, the forest is assessed and monitored. Forest is divided into three types – young stand, maturing stand, mature stand. The property value of a young stand is in the range of 1000 – 2500 EUR/ha, of a maturing stand from 2500 to 20,000 EUR/ha, and of a mature stand from 2500 – 25,000 EUR/ha.

In order to conclude a contract, we need to receive from the client a completed application and the forest inventory card that is not older than 20 years.


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 
mobile: +371 29374827