Exhibit 99.1
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                                                                          335550
                                                                   PRESS RELEASE

AEGON RECEIVES LICENSE FOR LIFE INSURANCE ACTIVITIES IN SLOVAKIA

The Dutch based AEGON Group has received a license from the relevant regulatory
authorities to start life insurance activities in Slovakia.

AEGON has decided to enter the life insurance market of Slovakia in the form of
a greenfield operation and intends to play a significant role in developing this
market through a wide range of products and services.

Jana Gruntova has been appointed head of the branch office, Peter Brudnak has
been appointed general manager and Zoltan Sipos as sales manager.

"This is an important step in our Central European strategy and we will
enthusiastically proceed with our preparations", says Don Shepard, chairman and
CEO of AEGON's Executive Board. "We will start up our activities in Slovakia by
using the relevant expertise available within our Group. The Slovakian insurance
market has started to develop and in the long run there will be interesting
opportunities for expansion in life insurance and pension products."

AEGON views its participation in Slovakia as a long-term commitment and is
dedicated to developing business in life insurance systems. AEGON plans to
launch its operations in the autumn of 2003, when further information will be
given on the operation, as well as on products and services.

Disclaimer
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Forward-looking statements

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe", "estimate", "intend", "may",
"expect", "anticipate", "predict", "project", "counting on", "plan", "continue",
"want", "forecast", "should", "would", "is confident" and "will" and similar
expressions as they relate to us are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and
involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. We
undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations,
including, but not limited to, the following:

o    changes in general economic conditions, particularly in the United States,
     the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
o    changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging
     markets, including:
     -    the frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in our fixed income
          investment portfolios; and
     -    the effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements
          on the financial markets and the resulting decline in value of equity
          and debt securities we hold;
o    the frequency and severity of insured loss events;
o    changes affecting mortality, morbidity and other factors that may affect
     the profitability of our insurance products;
o    changes affecting interest rate levels;
o    changes affecting currency exchange rates, including the euro/US dollar and
     euro/UK pound exchange rates;
o    increasing levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the
     United Kingdom and emerging markets;



o    changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting our
     operations, the products we sell and the attractiveness of certain products
     to our consumers;
o    regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the jurisdictions
     in which we operate;
o    the costs of defending litigation, the risk of unanticipated material
     adverse outcomes in such litigation and AEGON's exposure to other
     contingent liabilities;
o    acts of God, acts of terrorism and acts of war;
o    changes in the policies of central banks and/or foreign governments;
o    customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;
o    competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect the distribution
     cost of or demand for our products; and
o    our failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational
     efficiencies as well as other cost saving initiatives.

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The Hague, 3 June 2003

Inquiries:
AEGON N.V.            Group Communications               Investor Relations
                      + 31 70 344 83 44                  + 31 70 344 83 05


For background information please visit the company's web site at www.aegon.com
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