Post Office takes first steps towards insurance business

The still state-owned Polish post office Poczta Polska (PP) has applied to sector regulators for an insurance licence which would enable it to take its first steps onto new financial products markets. The new firm would sell property, health and life insurance. The application is part of a strategy that hopes to establish a capital group supervising separate operations in four different areas of business: financial products, Internet, traditional postal services and logistics/courier services. All of this remains dependent on PP’s obtaining the necessary freedoms of action under the new act on the organisation’s commercialisation and restructuring, work on which is due to start in the relevant ministries shortly. Should all go to plan however, the resulting company would benefit from Poland’s largest retail outlet network, with more than 8000 service points nationwide.