OREANDA-NEWS. March 23, 2012. The project of integration of the Russian insurance companies ROSNO, Allianz IJSC and Progress-Garant, owned by the international financial holding Allianz SE, has entered its final phase: rebranding. Starting from April 2012, the consolidated company OJSC IC Allianz will operate in the market under its new brand, reported the press-centre of ROSNO.

Being one of the largest and oldest finance and insurance giants, the Allianz has its brand enjoying huge influence and authority in European countries and other countries of the world. For decades, the company has been following a solid and farsighted brand development strategy. The rebranding in Russia is an important part of Allianz’s global policy aimed at establishing a uniform image of the Group’s companies across the globe.

The commenced rebranding has already resulted in significant exterior changes, such as new logo, corporate style, and office decoration. Along with the company’s image, modernization will affect its internal business processes and customer service approaches; new products will also be developed. This March, the company launched the process of revisualization of offices and sales outlets throughout Russia.

Mr. Hakan Danielsson, President of OJSC IC Allianz, noted: "The process of consolidation of Allianz’s assets in Russia, which we started in the summer of 2011, has come to its logical conclusion — rebranding. We timed the brand change properly — now we have got real opportunity to show that the consolidated company has become larger, stronger, more reliable, and that it has all it takes to achieve leadership in the Russian market. In course of rebranding, we must familiarize the Russian consumers with Allianz brand, improving their brand awareness as much as possible, and explain what additional advantages have they got thanks to ROSNO adopting the brand of the world’s finance and insurance leader".

By now, a solid platform for rebranding has been prepared in Russia, which will, in the short-term, enable achieving the expected results and gaining consumer recognition.

"Our shareholder has been customarily bringing local brands under the umbrella of the parent Allianz brand which is well known within the international financial community and consumers in over 70 countries", noted Mr. Artashes Sivkov, Member of the Board of OJSC IC Allianz. —The launch of the new brand in Russia will enable IC Allianz to make full use of the international expertise and initiatives of the global Allianz conglomerate in all business directions and ensure maximum conformity to strict requirements of today’s consumers to insurance services".

In the Far East, changes will affect all offices of IC Allianz located in the seven subjects of the Russian Federation: Khabarovsky Kraj, Primorsky Kraj, the Kamchatskaya Region, the Sakhalinskaya Region and the Amurskaya Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). And the South Sakhalin office will celebrate its relocation.

"The external changes in the offices of IC Allianz in the Far East reflect huge internal reforms as to customer service and the quality of management of the insurants’ risks. In this respect, we are guided by the Western European standards adopted by Allianz Group", commented Mr. Vassily Grishutkin, Deputy CEO and Head of the Central and Far Eastern Directorates of OJSC IC Allianz. "We have already laid foundation for such changes in the region. In the Far East, Allianz demonstrates stable and steady growth: during the last five years, the branches Allianz-Kamchatka and Allianz-Khabarovsk have regularly ranked in the TOP-5 of the regional market insurers. One of our key business lines is voluntary medical insurance, wherein we are one of the regional leaders. According to the year 2011 results, the share of Allianz in the Far Eastern VMI market is 17%, and in Khabarovsky Kraj, our company is an absolute leader (with 29% share). In 2012, IC Allianz plans to retain its VMI positions, grow its market share in property insurance and maritime insurance, and develop a service component in obligatory insurance types offered in the region (insurance coverage of liability of hazardous facility owners, OMTPL, and agricultural insurance).