How it started
Foundation
The company's origin dates back to 1803 when the first insurance company in Poland was established. In the years 1927-1952 the company operated under the name Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń Wzajemnych. From 1952 to 1990 it was operated as a state-owned monopoly under the name Państwowy Zakład Ubezpieczeń (State Insurance Company) and effectively became the largest insurance company in the country.
In 1991 PZU was turned into a joint stock company controlled by the State Treasury as a consequence of the political transformation after 1989.
In December 1991, the PZU Życie joint stock company was founded by Polski Bank Rozwoju and Bank Handlowy in Warsaw. PZU transferred its portfolio of life insurance contracts to PZU Życie.
In 1998, in relation with the reform of the pension insurance system in Poland, PZU Życie formed PTE PZU, a joint stock company, which operates the OFE PZU (Open Pension Fund).
On 5 November 1999, a share purchase agreement was concluded under which Eureko and BIG Bank Gdański acquired 20% and 10% respectively of the share capital of PZU. A dispute arose in connection with the implementation of the agreement, which was settled amicably in October 2009. Settlement and sale agreements were concluded between the parties.
From Wikipedia’s article on Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2