International awards in 2010
- UNIQA pojištovna in the Czech Republic received the “Life Insurance of the Year 2010” award for its term life insurance line.
- In Poland, the European Federation of Financial Professionals awarded UNIQA TU S.A. the “Trustworthy Financial Product” prize for the most trustworthy financial product.
- “Meteo Alert”, the severe weather warning service successfully launched in Romania by UNIQA Asiguarari, received the “Product of the Year” award.
- The Croatian UNIQA subsidiary UNIQA osiguranje d.d. received the “Golden Kuna” award as the best insurer in the country from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce. The company‘s product innovations and business development were included in the evaluation.
- UNIQA poištovna in Slovakia received multiple “Gold Coin” awards in the financial products competition. As in the previous years, its most successful products included “Accident & Care” insurance. Overall, UNIQA poisˇt´ovnˇa achieved second and third place.
“Faces for UNIQA” unites in Vienna
Since the introduction of the UNIQA brand in the year 1999, the Group has relied on partnerships with successful sports personalities to improve its recognition and image. This strategy was extended to the new markets as part of the international expansion. UNIQA has now entered into advertising partnerships with locally known, highly popular athletes in almost every region in which the Group is active. They include ski racers Stephan Eberharter, Benjamin Raich and Marlies Schild from Austria, Veronika Zuzulová from Slovakia and Ivet Lalova, world class sprinter from Bulgaria. Others include Krisztián Pars, a hammer thrower from Hungary, Aleksandar Ðjorðevic, a basketball legend from Serbia, Bogdan Wenta, the trainer of the Polish men’s national handball team, and recently, Nikola Janovic, a member of the Montenegro national water polo team.
International expansion supported by the EBRD
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is actively continuing its support of the internationalisation of the UNIQA Group. The framework agreement, which was increased from €70 million to €150 million in November 2007, intensified the cooperation which has successfully existed since 1998. The increase will provide the EBRD with considerably expanded financial latitude for acquiring minority interests in existing UNIQA subsidiaries in Central and Eastern Europe until year-end 2017.
Standard and Poor’s again confirms “A” rating
The internationally recognised rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) renewed and confirmed the “A” rating for the UNIQA Group in May 2010. The key rating factors and strengths of the Group once again impressed S&P, such as the strong competitive position as one of the market leaders in Austria and the impressive sales capacities. Other significant factors were the bank assurance sales via the Raiffeisen banks and the successful expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.
