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SUNLIGHT: The insurance indemnification for the fire incident at the production plant in Xanthi, Greece, settled at 66 million Euros

January 30, 2019
  • It is considered to be the largest amount ever paid as insurance indemnification in Greece
  • SUNLIGHT wishes to express its gratitude to all members of the co-insurance scheme and the insurance broker Aon – insurance advisor

SUNLIGHT, a company engaged in the production of industrial batteries and member of the Olympia Group of Companies, announces that the co-insurance scheme, which had underwritten the insurance coverage in relation to the fire incident in the company’s production plant at Neo Olvio, Xanthi, in May 2018, approved the payment of an aggregate net amount of 66 million Euros for the material and consequential damages incurred due to the fire. The above is considered to be the largest amount ever paid as insurance indemnification in Greece.

Taking this opportunity, SUNLIGHT wishes to express its gratitude to all members of the co-insurance scheme and particularly to the leader company ERGO Insurance S.A. (participation percentage of 25%), which coordinated and administered the entire indemnification process, as well as to all the other member-companies of the above scheme, namely EUROPE Asfalistiki (20%), INTERAMERICAN (19%), GENERALI HELLAS S.A. (15%), EUROLIFE ERB INSURANCE (9%), INTERASCO S.A. (4%), ORIZON INSURANCE (4%) and EUROPEAN RELIANCE S.A. (4%), and also to the insurance broker Aon – insurance advisor for their excellent collaboration, undivided support and notable encouragement provided to the company, during a quite difficult period.

Mr. Vasilis Billis, Chief Executive Officer of SUNLIGHT stated the following: “…The amount of the insurance indemnification reflects the size of the damage incurred whereas at the same time allows us to continue the speedy reconstruction of our production plant so that we can make it even more modern and fully competitive, thus strengthening the position of SUNLIGHT in the global market place. I would like to thank – via a gesture representing the entire personnel of the company – all members of the co-insurance scheme, as well as the insurance broker Aon – insurance advisor, which contributed to the successful outcome of this undertaking. Following the above, we will now be able to continue our dynamic growth plan in the future. The knowledge, the experience and mainly the deep understanding of our needs have validated in full the goodwill and the credibility of all parties involved.”

George Dalianis, Chief Executive Officer of Aon, Greece & Cyprus, stated the following: “…Having full awareness of our role and responsibility, we have given our support to SUNLIGHT from the very beginning in order to commence its operations again within the minimum possible timeframe. Our contribution towards the efficient planning of the insurance policy and loss management, in conjunction with the immediate response coming from the insurance companies involved, allowed for the full execution of the policy’s provisions despite the complexity of the particular case and incident. We are especially pleased that the amount of the insurance indemnification and its immediate disbursement has fully met the expectations of SUNLIGHT’s management, therefore consolidating a feeling of business continuity and corporate safety for our client.”

Mr. Theodoros Kokkalas, CEO of ERGO, noted the following: The fire incident at SUNLIGHT was a terrible event, which affected an exemplary company. The incident itself constitutes the largest damage ever occurring in the Greek insurance market, as well as one of the largest ones at a European level. However, this incident gave the opportunity to the companies which provide SUNLIGHT with insurance coverage as well as to ERGO, under the capacity of the leader company within the co-insurance scheme and as the administrator of the particular incident and damage, to validate both the capabilities and credibility of the Greek insurance market and also present the strong know how, the special skills and the principles this market stands for. On behalf of all the co-insurance companies, and personally, I wish to thank SUNLIGHT, the insurance broker AON, the expert parties and the co-insurance member companies for their excellent collaboration, which led to a fair and especially speedy agreement. I believe that the above event is a highly rated example of an excellent crisis management on behalf of SUNLIGHT, as well as of a high professionalism on behalf of the Greek insurance market.”

SUNLIGHT specializes in the development, production and distribution of batteries and energy storage systems. As of today, it is considered to be the leader in the market of batteries for internal type electric vehicles which are currently utilized in the markets of transportation and logistics. The Company exports almost 98% of its production output to more than 100 countries.