Call centers part of PZU's zl.1 billion investment plan

The management board of insurance giant PZU will recommend to the supervisory board that zl.1 billion of the company's 2001 profit be allocated for investment. According to PZU deputy chairman Antonio da Costa, the money would be channeled into the development of telephone customer services and IT systems. PZU is planning to launch a network of call centers, estimated to cost zl.240 million, enabling its customers to notify it by telephone of possible insurance claims. The company also expects to spend in total zl.1 billion over five years on IT systems. Da Costa explained PZU is interested in acquiring a separate IT system for its life insurance operations, since it has proved impossible to find a software company able to develop a single IT system for the company's life and non-life insurance businesses. Da Costa also confirmed that PZU is ready to sell its affiliates and stakes in companies that are not engaged in the insurance business. The PZU group possesses shares in ventures that include a paper production plant in Krapkowice, the Gdynia Shipyard, and Telewizja Familijna. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 5; Puls Biznesu, p. 6) M.T.