The companies in the UNIQA Group in the Ukraine have provided impressive proof of their performance in the first quarter of 2009 and recorded a 42% increase in premiums over the same period in the previous year. At the same time the country's overall insurance market shrank substantially due to the major economic problems and political uncertainty - initial public statements are predicting at least -12%.

Together the non-life company Credo-Classic and UNIQA Life, which specialises in life insurance, recorded premium volumes of UAH 91.3 million (EUR 9.1 million) in the first quarter of 2009 and achieved substantial gains in market share. In non-life insurance - which still clearly dominates the market - UNIQA's Ukrainian subsidiary Credo-Classic increased premium volumes by 39% to UAH 86.0 million (EUR 8.6 million). There were particular successes with the new, attractive products relating to motor vehicle insurance.

The growth in life insurance was even stronger at around 110%, where UNIQA Life took UAH 5.3 million (EUR 0.5 million) in the first three months of 2009. During the same period the life insurance market in the Ukraine is expected to have fallen by more than 10%.

Yuri Yefimov, CEO of Credo-Classic: "After the UNIQA Group took an interest in Credo Classic in 2006 and jointly founded UNIQA Life, we undertook great efforts to modernise the product range and to restructure and extend the sales channels. The current figures and the fact that a few weeks ago we were selected as the country's best insurance company indicate that this was the right path to take and that open, transparent business policy and high service orientation will pay off in the medium term. But we have not only increased in terms of premiums - in complete contrast to the market development - we have also further improved our financial results. The good position and excellent reputation - also as a result of our strong capitalisation - that we now have in the Ukraine are the result of a successful exchange of know-how within the UNIQA Group and the initiative of our employees and partners. A key factor for our current sales success is of course the good collaboration with the local Raiffeisen Bank Aval."

Credo-Classic and UNIQA Life
Credo-Classic was established in 1994 and only handles property insurance. The UNIQA Group took an interest in the company in 2006 - and currently holds an 80% share. UNIQA Life is a joint venture between UNIQA and Credo-Classic that offers life insurance to both retail and corporate customers. UNIQA Group's stake in the company (direct and indirect) currently totals 96%.