Croatia's 27 insurers posted combined gross written premiums of 5.6 billion kuna ($929 million/751 million euro) in the first seven months of 2012, down 1.0% from a year earlier, the Croatian Insurance Bureau said.

Croatia's 27 insurers posted combined gross written premiums of HRK 4.89 billion (EUR 652 million) in the first half of 2012, down 1.0% from a year earlier, showed the financial figures recently published by the Croatian Insurance Bureau.

Insurer Croatia Osiguranje said on Monday its consolidated net profit rose 36.4% on the year to 81.7 million kuna in the first half of 2012.

The center-left Croatian government plans to privatize Croatia Osiguranje (CO), the country's biggest insurance company with one third of national market share, local press made known today.

The Croatian government is seeking an advisor to help it sell up to 50 percent in the biggest local insurer Croatia Osiguranje.

Austrian insurer UNIQA announced it has concluded an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the acquisition of the bank's minority interests in UNIQA subsidiaries in Croatia, Poland and Hungary, SeeNews reported June 21.

Croatia's 27 insurers posted combined gross written premiums of 4.1 billion kuna ($689 million/544 million euro) in the first five months of 2012, down 0.8% from a year earlier, the Croatian Insurance Bureau said.

Insurer Croatia Osiguranje said on Thursday it has started selling policies online. Clients buying insurance policies online can make a one-off payment or pay in instalments, Croatia Osiguranje said in a statement.

According to the data of the Croatian Insurance Bureau, the amount of insurance premiums written in the insurance market over the first quarter of 2012 made up HRK 2.53 billion (EUR 338 million), which was, in local currency, 0.8% less than over the same period last year. At the same time, Croatia's 27 insurers paid claims for the amount of HRK 1.12 billion or 5.34% more than a year ago.

Croatian insurer Allianz Zagreb said on Thursday its gross profit rose 20.3% on the year to 31.5 million kuna ($5.5 million/4.2 million euro) in the first quarter of 2012.

"Croatia's 27 insurers posted combined gross written premiums of 2.535 billion kuna ($443 million/337 million euro) in the first quarter of 2012, down from 2.556 million kuna a year earlier, the Croatian Insurance Bureau said.

According to data of the Croatian Insurance Office, gross premiums for the 27 insurance companies totalled €0.34 billion at the end of March, down 0.8% in relation to the same period of 2011. Non-life insurance decreased by 1.6% to €0.26 billion, while the written gross premiums for life insurance increased by 2% to €76.9 million. Croatia osiguranje still leads the market, followed by Allianz Zagreb and Euroherc osiguranje.

Grawe Hrvatska, the Croatian unit of Austria's Grawe Insurance Group, said on Wednesday its after-tax profit totaled 31.5 million kuna ($5.5 million/4.2 million euro) in 2011.

PZU, Eastern Europe's biggest insurer, could spend as much as $2.2 billion to build an international presence and is looking for targets in the Balkans and for asset sales by troubled European financial groups.

Insurance company Croatia Osiguranje said its consolidated gross profit jumped 34.6% to 160.2 million kuna ($27.8 million/21.1 million euro) in 2011.

Croatia's 26 insurers posted combined gross written premiums of 871.2 million kuna ($151.6 million/114.9 million euro) in the first month of 2012, up 1.6% from a year earlier, the Croatian Insurance Bureau said on Wednesday.

Croatian insurer Allianz Zagreb said on Tuesday its gross profit rose 28.5% to 119.5 million kuna ($20.7 million/15.8 million euro) in 2011. Gross premiums rose 4.2% to 1.026 billion kuna in 2011 on the backdrop of a 1.1% contraction of the broader insurance market in the country, Allianz Zagreb said in a statement.

The Croatian government's recent announcement of major infrastructure projects has been met with interest in diplomatic circles. At the end of March, the British embassy in Zagreb is to organise an "investment forum" in which many investors ready to finance and have ownership interest in the Croatian projects are expected to attend from the United Kingdom.

Croatia plans to sell a majority stake in leading insurer CROATIA OSIGURANJE in a public tender, Finance Minister Slavko LINIC said on February 13th. Also stake in a local bank will be privatised, as the Government moves to slash the budget gap this year, according Reuters. The state controls some 80 percent in CROATIA Osiguranje and LINIC said the idea was to keep 25 percent plus one share and offer the remaining stock in a public tender. He did not elaborate on when the offer would take place, but according to other sources, the sale would probably happen this year.

Austrian group Wuestenrot said on Thursday it is investing 42.5 million kuna ($7.4 million/5.6 million euro) in the launch of a life insurance unit in Croatia. The new company, Wuestenrot Zivotno Osiguranje, will aim to secure a place among the 10 biggest market players over the next five years, the parent company said in a statement.