- In just five years, UNIQA has climbed to among the Top 5 in the Serbian insurance market and attained 4th place in non-life insurance

- Above-average development in the first three quarters of 2011: Growth significantly above the market average in all insurance segments (UNIQA Serbia’s market share 6.4%, premium growth of +15,2%)

- Franz Weiler: responsible for both Serbian UNIQA companies

UNIQA has several reasons to celebrate in Serbia: UNIQA has been active in Serbia for five years, and within this time was able to attain a position among the “Top 5” insurers in the country. As in previous years, UNIQA Serbia was also able to achieve above-average growth in the first nine month of 2011 and attain fifth place among our competitors (fourth place in the non-life segment). The management of UNIQA Serbia announced these results on 1 November 2011 at a press conference in Belgrade.

Developments in Serbia are a non-stop success story for UNIQA. Within just five years, UNIQA Serbia managed to climb into the “Top 5” insurance companies in the country. UNIQA Serbia has grown 220% since 2006 and invested a total of €50 million. A total of 895,000 policies have been issued since 2006, and more than 99,000 insurance claims with a total value of €39 million have been paid out. As “Number 5” in Serbia, UNIQA has 1.2 million customers and currently employs 775 staff.

“Being among the five most successful companies in the country, especially in a very tough competitive environment, is an outstanding success. For years, UNIQA has been among the top companies in the industry in Serbia, and continues to develop sustainably year after year”, says Franz Weiler, the person responsible for both Serbian UNIQA companies. “This says a lot about our top quality in operative business, the professionalism of our staff and our outstanding customer service.”

For Wolfgang Kindl, CEO of UNIQA International AG   an independent foreign holding which controls the more than 40 international companies   Serbia is an important cornerstone for UNIQA’s continued growth in international markets: “Even in difficult times, we have insisted on product and service quality. UNIQA Serbia has won the trust of customers and was able to consistently expand its market position. By entering the private health care insurance market in Serbia, we are now taking the next innovative steps to round out our local product offerings. We will continue to position ourselves in Serbia as a reliable partner for our customers, offering the highest quality and outstanding products.”

3rd Quarter 2011: Won additional market share
The first three quarter of 2011 were very positive: UNIQA Serbia was able to grow in all important segments and deliver growth rates significantly above the market average.

UNIQA Serbia’s market share climbed year-on-year by 0.7 percentage points to over 6.4%. While the entire market in the life and non-life lines experienced premium growth of about 3%, UNIQA Serbia posted double-digit growth rates of over 10%. This was thanks to the strong performance above all in the non-life area: while the market had just 0.6 percentage points of growth, UNIQA Serbia was able to post more than 15 percentage points. This led to a market share of more than 6% and to an ascent to fourth position in the market rankings.
The developments in the life segment were also very positive: with a plus of almost 15%, UNIQA clearly outperformed market developments (10%). UNIQA thereby attained 7.6% market share and was able to reach fifth place in Serbia.

These days, UNIQA Serbia is celebrating not just the last five years of development, but also its entry into the voluntary health care market with the “MedUNIQA” product. Since 1 November 2011, the insurer is offering diversified product packages of proven quality that are custom-tailored to the various needs of our customers and that optimally expand the product portfolio in Serbia.

Changes in the management of UNIQA Serbia
Changes in the management of UNIQA Serbia were also announced at the press conference in Belgrade. Zoran Visnjic, the previous chairman of the Management Board of UNIQA Serbia, was appointed to the Management Board of UNIQA International – the holding company for over 40 subsidiaries in the UNIQA Group. He has been responsible since 1 July 2011 for the Southeastern Europe region. Franz Weiler, who was previously Executive Director for the insurance technology area, is his successor in Serbia and bears overall responsibility for our operations there. Gordana Bukumiric is now taking over this position. Dragoljub Zdravkovic continues to the hold the CFO post for UNIQA Serbia.

UNIQA in Serbia
UNIQA is active in Serbia with two companies: UNIQA nezivotno osiguranje a.d.o. and UNIQA zivotno osiguranje a.d.o. After the founding of UNIQA nezivotno osiguranje (which focuses on the non-life segment) in 2007, UNIQA zivotno osiguranje a.d.o., a company that has belonged to the UNIQA Group Austria since March 2006, has dedicated itself fully to specialisation in the sale of life insurance products. The Serbian insurance landscape is powerfully dominated by the non-life segment, above all by liability automobile insurance products. Insurance penetration in Serbia is at 1.8% of GDP in 2010, which still significantly behind similar figures for other countries such as Austria (5.9%) and the Czech Republic (4%). At the same time, there is enormous growth potential for the insurance industry in Serbia – outstanding opportunities for growth that UNIQA will continue to pursue.