The financial group Penta will become the only owner of private health insurer Dôvera after it agreed to buy a 50-percent share currently owned by Cypriot company Prefto Holding Limited. The transaction will now have to be approved by both the Health-Care Supervisory Authority (ÚDZS) and the Anti-Monopoly Office, the SITA newswire reported on August 31.
The main reason for the transaction is allegedly due to the dispute between the shareholders over the future of Dôvera after the government announced it wanted to establish a single state health insurer. One of the possibilities is to buy the companies from their original owners.
“We disagree with the current initiative of the government and we do not want to sell our share to state,” said Eduard Maták, partner of Penta, as quoted by SITA. “We are convinced that the possibility of choice and the existence of competition between public and private health insurance companies brings even greater effectiveness as well as quality in providing health care and services.”
He added that having only one health insurer is a step backwards which will harm both patients and doctors.
Daniel Futej from Prefto Holding Limited said that his company wants to terminate its presence in Dôvera since it “perceives the threat of a fundamental change in the rules for business-making in the public health insurance [sector]”, SITA reported.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
