February 22 (SeeNews) - Jasminka Horvat Martinovic will take over as chief executive officer of Croatia's Wiener Osiguranje on May 1, in parallel with the planned merger of Vienna Insurance Group's (VIG) two units in the country, VIG said on Thursday.
As announced in December, VIG will merge its two Croatian subsidiaries (bancassurer Erste Osiguranje and Wiener Osiguranje) at the end of April 2018, subject to approval by the local authorities, VIG said in a statement.
Horvat Martinovic joined the managing board of Wiener Osiguranje in 2014. She will now be taking over as CEO from Walter Leonhartsberger-Schrott, and will continue to oversee non-life insurance and reinsurance operations, as well as IT activities.
Walter Leonhartsberger-Schrott began working for VIG in Croatia in 2005. He has been part of VIG’s expansion in the country since 2008.
VIG said in December that by merging its two companies in Croatia it is looking to capitalise on the strengths of its Croatian brands, with a view to expanding the bancassurance business.
The Vienna Insurance Group entered the Croatian insurance market in 1999, and launched its bancassurance business in the country in 2005, in cooperation with its partner Erste Group. VIG was Croatia’s fourth-biggest insurance group at the end of 2017, with a market share of around 9%.