Nikos Antimissaris

CEO of MAPFRE EURASIA
“Proud to form part of this great organization called MAPFRE”

The EURASIA region has been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, firstly due to the proximity of countries like the Philippines and Indonesia to China, the source of this pandemic, and, secondly, because, after China, Europe was the epicenter of the pandemic for several weeks before the USA surpassed it.

The European authorities proved incapable of planning ahead, nor were preventive measures adopted to curb the spread of the virus. One after another, all the European countries were affected by the virus, albeit not always with the same intensity. Of the countries in our EURASIA region, Italy has undoubtedly been the worst affected. Germany and Malta have been less affected in relative terms. By contrast, in Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines, although the data currently available reveal a moderate impact, the numbers of infections and deaths are expected to rise dramatically.

As Nikos Antimissaris tells us, “In this unprecedented situation, MAPFRE’s reaction has been really swift and effective, prioritizing at all times the health of our employees and the continuity of our business in order to guarantee the best possible attention to our clients. Italy was the first country in the region to activate remote working for its whole workforce, all in record time. All countries in the region then progressively implemented the required action protocols. A special mention must go to the work undertaken by the Security Area which, from the very first moment, assumed coordination of all the actions, as well as that of the Human Resources and Technology teams.”

While it is still very difficult to quantify the economic impact of this pandemic, there can be no doubt that it will be really negative for most sectors of activity. In this regard, MAPFRE has launched a battery of measures in every country designed to assist our principal stakeholders: these include guaranteeing job stability for our employees and offering facilities for our brokers, clients and providers to alleviate the liquidity issues caused by the total cessation of all economic activity.

At the same time, the EURASIA region countries are actively participating in the various Fundación MAPFRE initiatives targeting the general public. These range from collaborating with public institutions to purchase healthcare material and medical equipment, to organizing volunteering activities, etc., as well as many other actions that help tackle this emergency situation and alleviate the situation of those most in need.

We must be proud of belonging to this great organization called MAPFRE, which is clearly demonstrating not just its response capacity but, above all, the values that truly characterize it. These are reflected in our everyday activities which have resulted in MAPFRE today being deemed synonymous with trust by all its stakeholders in the various countries where it operates.