Slovenia Times

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
GRAWE Slovenia will still be
stable, future oriented and
continue to serve its satisfied
customers.
Božo Emeršič, MBA, Chairman of the Board at GRAWE Insurance PLC
Interview: Božo Emeršič, MBA,
Chairman of the Board at GRAWE Insurance PLC
25 Years
of Success
Prepared by Aleksander Koren
GRAWE Insurance PLC from Maribor has its roots in 1828,
when it was founded by Archduke Johann as a fire insurance
company. Group started its internationalisation in 1991 with
expansion from Austria to Slovenia and by year 2008 covered 13
East-European countries. In 2015 Slovenian branch exceeded its
expected profits and created EUR 2.3m net income. The chairman
of the board that has been with the company for the last 16 years
explains GRAWE’s development and strategy.
Q GRAWE is often praised for its long
tradition and being present in Slovenia for
the last 25 years. What are the main
advantages of GRAWE Group that is
stretched from Austria all the way across
Balkans to Ukraine?
A The main competitive advantage was
already mentioned by you and this is our
long tradition. GRAWE has its roots in
provinces of Austrian empire mainly
populated by Slovenians at the time.
Considering this fact GRAWE is a true
Slovenian company. On the same note we
have three major competitive advantages.
The first one is our tendency towards
long term sustainability; our concrete
orientation towards customer; and
preservation of our long tradition with
gained experiences.
Q The company created EUR 2.3m of net
profit in 2015 and expanded its market share
to 1.81%. The solvency rate also grew to as
much as 435%. Where do you see GRAWE in
the next 25 years?
A Of course we have short term business
plans, medium term business projections
and long term strategies with a vision for
our company’s future. Slovenia’s GRAWE
development mainly depends on the
market development over time. We are
asking ourselves: Is the insurance industry
going to be centralised? Are the major
players going to be privatised? These issues
will definitely influence GRAWE’s position
in the Slovenian market. But we are certain
that in 25 years GRAWE Slovenia will still
be stable, future oriented and continue to
serve its satisfied customers.
Q In recent times there were a lot of calls for
health care reform, which would tackle
supplementary healthcare insurance.
How would such action impact insurance
market in Slovenia and GRAWE itself even if
your company is not directly linked to the
particular type of insurance policy? What are
your general predictions for Slovenian
insurance market? There are signals that
Triglav Insurance PLC will not be privatised,
what is your comment?
A We are following the market
development, but the question of Triglav
privatisation should be asked to the
management at Triglav, the owners or
other relevant parties in order to find an
adequate answer. Quite similarly I cannot
comment on a reform that has not yet been
drafted and furthermore implemented in
the society. Generally speaking, the
longevity of human life span is constantly
increasing by improved medical technology.
The problem raises the issue of pension and
rising costs of entitlement benefits
programs. A lot of insurance companies are
addressing the question of sustainability of
such entitlement programs and GRAWE is
by no means an exception. As mentioned,
we do not offer supplementary healthcare
insurances but we offer other life insurances
that will help our customers in case of
dread diseases or life insurance packages
for savings that will enable our customers
to receive additional funds when they enter
to state entitlement program.