UNIQA Group Austria entered the Bulgarian market in July 2005 with acquiring 20 per cent of the shareholders’ equity of the sixth-largest Bulgarian insurance company, Vitosha. In March 2007, UNIQA increased its share from 20 per cent to 51 per cent and - in accordance with its one-brand policy - changed the name of Vitosha to UNIQA simultaneously. In compliance with the major shareholder, the management structure has now also changed accordingly.
Paul Moritz, Alfred Lugstein and Nikolai Genchev will be responsible for the fate of the company with immediate effect. Yordan Ghenchev and Elena Karadzhinova will leave the Management Board upon mutual agreement. In the subsidiary's life insurance business, Moritz, Lugstein and Genchev will be further assisted by the board members Georgi Georgiev and Nadejda Vantova.

Mr Paul Moritz (59) – person  and background
Mr Moritz was born in Graz and has been working in the insurance industry since 1981 and for the UNIQA Group since 1988. Since then, he has been successfully heading the industry and large commercial customer division. In addition to further functions within the UNIQA Group, Moritz is also deputy chair of the industrial property insurance section within the Austrian Association of Insurance Companies and a delegate to the International Machinery Insurance Association; he is furthermore active in the European Insurance Federation CEA. Moritz has been involved in the management of peak risks in CEE countries and will highly benefit form his experience in his new position.
Moritz is married and has a son. His leisure activities include golf and literature.

Mr Alfred Lugstein (50) – person and background
Born in Salzburg, he has been working in the insurance industry since 1979 and holding top management positions with the UNIQA Group since 1992. In the course of his career, he has gained experience in various areas and lately been working as a sales director of the regional office in Salzburg, being responsible for approximately 130 sales representatives. Mr Lugstein was already decisively involved in the successful integration of the Bulgarian insurance company Vitosha into the UNIQA Group previous year, gaining experience on the Bulgarian insurance market.
Lugstein is married and has four children. He dedicates his spare time to his family, sport or reading.

UNIQA Bulgaria - strong growth in 2006
The property insurance company UNIQA Bulgaria was established - like the life insurance subsidiary UNIQA Life Bulgaria - in 1992 as a private company under the name Vitosha. Preliminary reports show a premium volume of approximately €42 million jointly achieved by both companies in 2006. This corresponds to a growth of 28.6 per cent in comparison to 2005, which is significantly above the growth value of the entire Bulgarian insurance market. Consequently, the market share of both UNIQA subsidiaries rose to approximately 6.6 per cent. The property insurance business of UNIQA in Bulgaria increased by 21.3 per cent to €33.9 million. The booming life insurance business increased by 72.3% in 2006, leading to a premium volume of €8.09 million.

The headquarters of UNIQA Bulgaria are located in Sofia; sales and customer service are managed by a well-developed and area-wide network of approximately 100 branches, brokers and agencies. More than 360 employees are employed by UNIQA Bulgaria.