Zurich to withdraw from operations on Polish market

Swiss insurance giant Zurich is reported to be planning a complete wit hdrawal from the Polish market. According to Rzeczpospolita, the company plans to sell its two insurance companies and pension fund. Sources quoted by the daily state that there are already two foreign companies on the Polish market that are interested in the deal, Italian Generali and Swiss Winterthur. Negotiations are still in progress, but Generali seems to be closer to closing the deal. Zurich, which entered the Polish market in 1998, owns the sixth largest life insurance company in Poland, as well as OFE Zurich, which is the fifth largest pension fund in Poland. The owner of the Zurich group in Poland is Zurich Financial Services (ZFS), a British-Swiss company, which allegedly has $100 billion in compensation to cover due to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The information concerning the withdrawal of Zurich from the Polish market was not confirmed by the ZFS spokesperson, Claudia Stulten. "It is the policy of the company not to comment on rumors that appear on the market," she said. If Zurich leaves the market, it will be the second time that a foreign financial company wi thdraws completely from operations in Poland. Last year such a decision was made by Bank of America. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) A.K.