Vienna Insurance could close Agras

Agras, the first Romanian company to specialise in agricultural insurance, with business worth 6 million euros in 2006, could merge with another company, or be closed down. This would be first drastic restructuring measure for the Austrian-based Vienna Insurance, which owns Agras and another four companies: Omniasig, Omniasig Life, Unita and Asirom (30%). According to an announcement published by the insurer on the Stock Exchange, Agras insurers called an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the transfer of the agricultural insurance portfolio to Omniasig, which would basically mean closing the company. “The company may close, but this is just one possibility. The group is going to make a decision on Agras’s future,” Iulian Dumitru, chairman of Unita, which owns 93% of Agras, told ZF. Other possibilities include selling the company or shifting to other types of insurance, given that licences to operate in the insurance field are extremely difficult to obtain.