With a market share of more than 28%, Sigal is by far the largest insurance company in Albania and also has a commensurate market presence in Macedonia and Kosovo via subsidiaries and branch offices. UNIQA has been cooperating with Sigal since March 2007 and, at the start of this cooperation, secured a contractually fixed option to purchase a majority in 2010. 

UNIQA CEO Konstantin Klien comments: “The positive experiences we had in the past months of close cooperation with Sigal have moved us to skip a step in our staged plan for acquiring a majority of the company and purchase 46% already at this time. UNIQA hereby sends a clear signal of commitment to the dynamically developing region in general and to Sigal in particular. We have seen the potential of Sigal and its employees in the past months and will contribute our international experience to further improving its position as the leading insurance company in the region. The option for acquiring a majority of the company in the year 2010 naturally remains open.” 

Within the framework of the cooperation between UNIQA and Sigal to date, initial joint product developments in the area of life and health insurance have already been positioned on the market. In the future, the exchange of know-how should be intensified further. 

Sigal was founded in 1999 as one of the first private insurance companies in Albania and has operational subsidiaries in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia. In 2006, the entire group earned a premium volume of approximately €19.2 million (+20%) with roughly 220 employees and over 190,000 insurance contracts. In the first three quarters of 2007 alone, the premium volume of the Sigal group grew by another 25%. The full spectrum of insurance products and services is offered throughout the entire region via a comprehensive sales network. Sigal has already been named the best insurance company in Albania several times. 

Insurance markets in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia
In 2006, the ten companies active in the Albanian insurance market earned a premium volume of approximately €36.6 million. Roughly 7% of the premium income is attributable to the rapidly growing life insurance market. The insurance density (premiums per capita) and the insurance penetration (share of insurance premiums in GDP) naturally lie far below the values of Western European countries at roughly €11.6 and 0.5% respectively. 

In the Kosovan insurance market, which has existed independently since the year 2000, nine insurance companies are exclusively active in the non-life sector at present. The total premium volume of the market lies at about €40 million - of which roughly 90% is attributable to the motor vehicle sector. 

The ten active insurance companies in Macedonia achieve a premium volume of €89.9 million in total. The motor vehicle sector dominates the market here as well, with a share of roughly 57%. Only one company currently offers life insurance.