CIGNA STU LOOKS FOR EXPANSION IN 2004

Polish insurer Cigna STU, one of the few overseas joint operations in which US-based Cigna has accepted less than a majority holding, is looking for a 40% increase in sales in 2004, according to Cigna STU president Jan Bogutyn. The company posted 216.5m zlotys in premiums for 2003, up 41% on 2002, and recorded a profit of 6.4m zlotys. Cigna STU was formerly a p/c insurer owned by the Polish Teachers’ Union, but in 1996 it was bought by former Polish state bureaucrat Aleksander Gudzowaty, who made his fortune during the early days after the fall of the Soviet bloc through trading food for oil with Russia. Unlike many compatriots who made similar fortunes, he remained in Poland and paid his taxes, despite which he is now by many accounts Poland’s richest man. Last year Cigna entered into a joint deal with Mr Gudzowaty which left him with a 51% stake in the original company, while Cigna obtained a 51% stake in the more recently formed life assurance affiliate.