UDZS Hasn't Yet Received Request Regarding Health-insurer Dovera Buying Union

Bratislava, 22 July (TASR) - The Health-care Supervisory Office (UDZS) hasn't yet received a request related to the merger of private health-insurers Union and Dovera, Erika Kovacikova from UDZS told TASR on Wednesday in response to a call by the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) urging UDZS not to decide on an ownership change before the European Commission (EC) becomes familiar with the submission. "To date, the Health-care Supervisory Office hasn't received a request for prior consent. If it is submitted, we'll proceed strictly in accordance with Act No. 581/2004 Coll., which partly governs the protection of economic competition, explicitly vesting this power with the Anti-monopoly Office. Therefore, these are two independent administrative proceedings that don't depend on each other either in terms of timing or content," explained Kovacikova. KDH has warned of the risks in connection with the announced purchase of Union's shares by Dovera, drawing the EC's attention to an unprecedented vertical concentration in Slovakia's health care, with a single business group managing mandatory public health-insurance levies while at the same time owning a large proportion of hospitals, outpatient clinics, pharmacies and medicine distribution. Achmea B.V., stakeholder of health-insurer Union, and health-insurance company Dovera, a member of the Penta investment group, have signed a share-transfer agreement under which Union will be acquired by Dovera. The acquisition of the stake in Union will be financed by Dovera's shareholder and won't affect the funds allocated for reimbursing health-care fees. The plan is to merge Union with Dovera after obtaining the required approvals. The heads of both health-insurance companies, Martin Kultan (Dovera) and Michal Spanar (Union), said that the relevant authorities could issue their opinions within a few months, but they don't believe that there are any obstacles to the merger. They also claimed not to see any reason why it should lead to reduced competition on the market. jrg/df