BRATISLAVA, February 6, (WEBNOVINY) — Dutch company Achmea, the owner of Union ZP health insurer has opened another arbitration procedure against Slovakia, this time over the threat of expropriation of private health insurers that the Slovak government admits as one of the possibilities in introducing a unitary health insurance system in the country. Slovakia only recently lost arbitration with Achmea over the ban on profit of health insurers. It is supposed to pay to Achmea 22 million euros in reimbursement of damages and further three million in costs of legal services.
The owner of Union ZP delivered an announcement on a new arbitration procedure to the Slovak government on Wednesday. “Achmea plans to preserve the investment in Union ZP and holds the opinion that the planned expropriation is not in the public interest, does not comply with due legal process and is discriminatory. Moreover, the way how the Slovak Republic plans to continue the expropriation process is obviously at odds with the bilateral agreement on investments,” said spokesman for Achmea Bert Rensen. As he said, the company has already named the arbitrator and now it is the turn of the Slovak Republic to do the same.
Achmea announced the new arbitration on the day when the Slovak Cabinet death with a report on progress of the project of introducing a single health insurer. The schedule that is its part slates the start of the operation of a single, state health insurance company for January 2014. If the state fails to agree with owners of the two private health insurance companies on their purchase and uses the expropriation method instead, the start of operation of the single insurer would be postponed until July of the same year.
SITA