Croatia Osiguranje Plans To Offer Agricultural/Health Insurance in Macedonia in Drive for 10% Market Share

The parent company invested 3.25 million euro ($4.8 million) in the launch of a non-life insurance arm in Macedonia earlier this year.

In the first phase of its operation on the Macedonian non-life market, Croatia Osiguranje is focusing on motor insurance but plans to invest over the next three years in agricultural insurance, as well and in supplementary health insurance that has great potential on this market, the Croatian insurer said in a statement posted on its website.

“Our goal is to achieve a 10% of market share in Macedonia. Our plans are [...]very ambitious, although we are aware that there is strong international competition,” Croatia Osiguranje CEO Hrvoje Vojkovic said in the statement.

Investment in regional operations should continue and has no alternative if the company wants to strengthen its competitive position ahead of Croatia's entry in the European Union (EU), Vojkovic said.

The company's local non-life insurance unit opened on Monday a new office in Ohrid, in southwestern Macedonia, as part of the expansion of its sales network. It plans to launch a further three outlets by the end of the year, Croatia Osiguranje said.

Croatia Osiguranje has been present in Macedonia since 2005 with life insurance unit Croatia Osiguruvanje AD-Zivot. This subsidiary raised its total revenues by 56% to 7.86 million kuna ($1.6 million/1.1 million euro) through June while gross premiums rose by 38% to 5.68 million kuna, Croatia Osiguranje said.

All twelve Croatia Osiguranje subsidiaries were profitable in the first half of 2009, posting combined gross earnings of 74.77 million kuna, up 9.0% on the year. The group's top performers were Milenijum Osiguranje in Serbia and Croatia Sigurimi in Kosovo which recorded profit growth of 33%, the statement said.

Croatia Osiguranje (www.crosig.hr) operates also in Bosnia and Montenegro. The Croatian government owns around 82% of the company.

Croatia Osiguranje shares were trading up 2.53% at 5,111 kuna by 1256 GMT on the Zagreb bourse on Monday.

The Adriatic country is on track to achieve its goal of completing accession negotiations with the EU by the autumn of 2009, Croatian Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said in June.

(1 euro=7.2815 Croatian kuna)