Austria & CEE
The Group has strengthened its presence in this area up to becoming one of the top insurance companies of the region.
Data on the page are updated as of 31.12.2021. 12 countries are included in the perimeter: Austria (At), Czech Republic (Cz), Poland (Pl), Hungary (Hu), Slovakia (Sk), Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and lastly Russia.
The area is called Austria & CEE from March 2022, following the Group’s decision to close its Moscow representative office, resign from positions held on the board of the Russian insurer Ingosstrakh and wind down Europ Assistance business in Russia.
To favour synergies in the coordination of regions, in June 2022 the Central Eastern European countries became part of the International Business Unit, and Austria became part of a new Business Unit with Germany and Switzerland.
| Austria & CEE | |
| Gross written premium | € 6,957 mln |
| Total operating result | € 885 mln |
| Life market share | AT 14.8% CZ 22.3% HU 9.8% SK 9.2% PL 4.5% |
| P&C market share | AT 14.9% CZ 28.9% HU 18.7% SK 13.6% PL 5.3% |
| Ranking | AT 3rd CZ 2nd HU 2nd SK 3rd PL 6th |
| Our people | 17,106 |
The Group boasts its presence in the Eastern Europe territories since 1989. In 2008, a joint venture collaboration with PPF Holding started and ended in 2015, when Generali acquired the full control over Generali CEE Holding.
In 2018, Austria, where Generali has been present since 1832, and Russia, joined the perimeter and a representative office was opened in Moscow. In the same year Generali strengthened its presence in the CEE region with acquisitions in Slovenia (Adriatic Slovenica) and Poland (Concordia). The M&A operations allowed to balance and diversify portfolios, sales channels and the presence in the area overall. In 2018, it has been signed as well the collaboration agreement with Unicredit for the distribution of insurance solutions mainly concerning Credit Protection Insurance (CPI) in the entire region.
In 2019, the acquisition in Poland of Union Investment TFI S.A from the German group Union Asset Management Holding AG was completed and the agreement to acquire all Life, P&C and Mixed portfolios of three companies of ERGO International AG in Hungary and the Slovakia was concluded, in line with Group strategy. This operation will allow the cross-selling opportunities to be exploited through the customer base and to increase it.
In 2020, Austria completed the acquisition of SK Versicherung AG (founded in 1982 as a joint venture between a number of Austrian insurance companies), signing an exclusive 5-year sales agreement with ÖAMTC (Austrian automobile, motorcycle and touring club). Furthermore, the Group completed the acquisition of the Izvor osiguranje portfolio in Croatia.
In December 2021, representatives of Slovak Generali and Generali Česká pojišťovna signed a Sale of Business Contract based on which Generali will operate in Slovakia as a branch company of Generali Česká pojišťovna, under the name Generali Poisťovňa.
Generali companies are in the top rankings in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Austria and Slovakia, and among the top ten in the other countries. In terms of volumes, the main insurance markets are Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. The contribution of the minor territories has improved during the last years, resulting in an increase of their gross written premiums on the total volume of the area. Lastly, Generali is leader in terms of technical profitability thanks to a medium-long term combined ratio lower than 90%.
Key Events in Central and Eastern Europe
To favour synergies in the coordination of regions, the Central Eastern European countries became part of the International Business Unit.
Generali decided to close its operations in the Russian market and the business unit is renamed Austria & CEE.
1989 - Expansion plan launched in the area
1998 - Establishment of Generali Versicherung from the merger between Generali Leben and Erste Allgemeine in Austria
2008 - Creation of Generali PPF Holding, joint venture between Generali and PPF Group
2015 - Full control ofGPH. Company name changed into Generali CEE Holding
2018 - Creation of Austria, CEE & Russia Region to strengthen Generali's presence in markets where it already posts strong results
2021 - Representatives of Slovak Generali and Generali Česká pojišťovna signed a Sale of Business Contract based on which Generali will operate in Slovakia as a branch company of Generali Česká pojišťovna, under the name Generali Poisťovňa.
2022 - Generali decided to close its operations in the Russian market and the business unit is renamed Austria & CEE
June 2022 - To favour synergies in the coordination of regions, the Central Eastern European countries became part of the International Business Unit
MANAGER IN CHARGE
From September 2022, with the new organizational structure, the Business Unit International, headed by Jaime Anchùstegui, extends its perimeter over the Central Eastern Europe countries and Manlio Lostuzzi serves as CEE Regional Officer.
Giovanni Liverani ends his ad interim period as ACEE Regional Officer and serves as CEO of the newly created business unit Austria, Germany and Switzerland.