“It is not easy to be an entrepreneur in Romania. Progress has been made in many ways lately, some fiscal notions and procedures have been simplified and clarified to a certain extent, some provisions have been explained. However, a lot is yet to be done to encourage entrepreneurship, as well as investors in general”, stated Anca Vladu for ZF.
Concerning the Catena pharmacies, the 600-unit threshold has been exceeded. The opening of a pharmacy is a long-term process, it must be prepared well in advance, which is why we cannot provide a precise figure. The expansion is also achieved at present, where there is market potential for our group, which has the best financial rating granted to a company in the pharmaceutical sector.”
Among the obstacles encountered in the way of business development, Anca Vlad makes mention of red tape, indicating that a Fiscal Code having over one thousand pages is difficult to be covered by an entrepreneur, particularly without any economic training, although this document presents business organization modes. Another difficulty encountered by entrepreneurs is the emergence of new laws and orders “which reduce the productivity and competitiveness of Romanian companies”. “The obstacles I encountered in my career were exceeded, but it hasn’t always been easy. I would refer to the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 as a tough moment in the life of the company. We have fully recovered, but the energy resources and the human quality within Fildas-Catena were strained to the maximum, and total mobilization yielded results.”
Vlad states that the group of companies will reach the objectives established for this year, however, she does not provide information concerning the growth rates or the forecast turnover. She also says that there were some issues concerning medicine supply, against the export of such products, and the strategy of the group targeted the covering of the internal medicine demand.
“Although to profits than can be achieved from exports exceed the ones obtained internally, our company chose not to export any boxes for which there is internal demand. However, we frequently have stock shortages, because the quantities generated by Fildas are insufficient, and the respective products are out-of-stock with the other producers”, stated Anca Vlad.
Concerning the year 2017, Anca Vlad is planning to extend the number of customers and to revise the logistics processes for the Fildas business. The Fildas company registered a net profit of RON 63 million last year, and it ranked fourth among the top actors from the medicine distribution market.
(article published in Ziarul Financiar” – November 2nd, 2016)
