POLISH REGULATOR REJECTS LATEST EUREKO MOVE OVER PZU

Polish insurance supervisor KNUiFE has formally opposed an application by Netherlands-based insurer Eureko for a permit to exceed a state-imposed 50% ownership threshold in Eureko’s long-running attempt to gain control of Polish state-owned insurer PZU. KNUiFE said it was against the sale because “the investor does not own free funds in the amount necessary for such a purchase”. Its move casts a further shadow over Eureko’s protracted efforts to gain control of the insurer. Currently the state owns 55% of PZU and it is effectively controlled by the country’s treasury ministry, but Eureko owns 21% of the company and wants to exert the rights it gained in an agreement signed with Poland’s previous administration that would give it first call on any further privatisation of PZU.