Foreigners to enter drug distribution market

Robert Popescu, general manager of Relad, one of the top three pharmaceuticals distributors, believes that the entrance of international players on the market soon is inevitable. “In the context of integration in the European Union, which will lead to increasingly more important European players entering the market and will require the implementation of specific regulations, which will be much stricter than those that have so far been in place, we expect to see a significant consolidation of the Romanian drug distribution market in the years to come,” says Robert Popescu. The Relad group posted a profit worth 4.41 million euros last year from its distribution business, a 57% increase against the 2.81 million euros seen in 2004. The company”s turnover grew in the same period, amounting to 132.5 million euros, which corresponds to a growth of over 30% against the previous year. ZF