KIEV, July 30 – France's AXA Insurance Company and Kharkiv-based UkrSibbank, the daughter bank of BNP Paribas, which jointly control Kiev-based Ukrainian Insurance Alliance, have reached agreement on the acquisition of a 99% stake in Kiev-based Vesko, the sixth-largest property and casualty insurance company in Ukraine.

"The consolidation of market share in Vesko and Ukrainian Insurance Alliance would give AXA and BNP Paribas third position on the rapidly growing Ukrainian market [with 7% market share]. The co-owners of the two companies will be AXA and BNP Paribas, and both companies will be under control of AXA," reads an AXA and BNP Paribas press release issued last week.