PZU's entry to neighboring markets may signal an important wider change

This allows an insurance entity to engage in the insurance market in any EU member country without the need to found a daughter company. PZU, which has been recently buying insurance companies abroad, now plans to enter the German and Czech markets. In the 18 months since the country joined the EU, Polish-based insurers have been coy about foreign expansion, with only a handful of them taking advantage of so-called single passport regulations, while 230 foreign insurers are interested in starting operations in Poland. However, some analysts believe that PZU's latest move may mark a wider change in the perspective of Polish insurance companies about entering neighboring markets. To date only Cigna, Gerling Polska, CitiInsurance Polska, Amplico Life, Cardif Polska and Commercial Union Polska have been, or are about to take this step. (Parkiet, p. 7)