PZU to finish talks on purchase of Lithuanian insurer

Poland's largest insurance company Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen (PZU) wants to finalize negotiations this month on purchasing a stake in life and property insurer Lindra, Lithuania's fifth largest insurance company. According to earlier announcements made by PZU, the first thing the company plans to do is to increase capital in the Lithuanian company, though they have not revealed how much capital they plan to invest, nor how large a stake they plan to purchase in Lindra. "The eastern market, especially Lithuania and Ukraine, are very attractive to us. There are no large i nsurance companies there yet," said PZU spokesperson Adam Taukert. The investment in Lindra is a joint venture of PZU and its foreign shareholder Eureko. Late last year Eureko and PZU withdrew from plans to take over Slovakia's largest insurance company, Slovenska Poistovna. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 22) A.K.