High award from the Czech Republic for Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vienna Insurance Group
Günter Geyer receives state award "Medal for Merit", I Class
The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), Günter Geyer, received the "Medal for Merit", I Class, from the President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, on 2 March 2023. The ceremony at Prague Castle was also attended by the Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.
The medal is a Czech state award presented by the President. It is a prestigious award given to important personalities who have contributed either to economic development, scientific and technical progress, or to cultural, educational, sporting, or medical advancement. The Medal for Merit is awarded in three classes, of which Class I is the highest.
“I appreciate the award very much. In former Czechoslovakia, we started our way into the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Together with our Czech colleagues Vladimír Mráz and subsequently Martin Diviš, we succeeded in building a strong insurance group in the Czech Republic, which includes Kooperativa and Česká podnikatelská pojišťovna, thanks to our strategy focused on local success. I see the award as recognition of our joint work”, emphasises Günter Geyer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vienna Insurance Group.
Günter Geyer had a very positive influence on the entire insurance industry in former Czechoslovakia since the 1990s. Thanks to his vision, intensive contacts with Czech and Slovak colleagues and a high level of confidence in the development of the Czech insurance industry, he made sure that most profits were invested in the local development of those insurance companies. In this way, he contributed to the enormous upswing of the modern insurance industry in the Czech Republic and Slovakia after decades of an insurance company holding a monopoly position, and also laid an important foundation for the development of the Vienna Insurance Group. In the following two decades, under Günter Geyer’s leadership, the Group expanded into many other countries in the CEE region and wrote an impressive chapter in the European insurance industry.
Today, Vienna Insurance Group unites around 50 insurance companies in 30 countries with more than 25,000 employees under one roof. In Austria, the Vienna Insurance Group includes the insurance companies Wiener Städtische Versicherung and Donau Versicherung.
Credits: Photo archive KPR/Hana Brožková
f.l.t.r.: Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic, Günter Geyer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vienna Insurance Group, Alexander Van der Bellen, President of the Republic of Austria
