Fresenius invests 1.3m euros in expansion

The domestic unit of German Fresenius company, the world”s biggest manufacturer of dialysis products, has recently operated a share capital increase by about 1.3 million euros, according to the data of the National Trade Registry Office.

“The share capital has been increased with a view to expanding the company”s operations on the Romanian market. We are now in the phase where the Health Ministry and the National Health Insurance Office are assessing the project of outsourcing the dialysis centres,” specified Daniela Voiculescu, medical manager with Fresenius.

The company has been so far involved in the outsourcing of the dialysis centres part of Carol Davila hospital of Bucharest and of C.I. Parhon Institute of Iasi, a contract with a value revolving around 7 million euros.

Fresenius” investments in this project are put at 5 million euros.

In the first phase, the state outsourced dialysis services for over 1,000 patients, of the total of about 6,000 who are undergoing a dialysis treatment in Romania. The Health Ministry is going to outsource other dialysis centres of Romania, through a tender, and the project is now under evaluation. In the first phase, International Healthcare Systems company took over dialysis centres part of Sf. Ioan hospital of the capital city and the county hospital of Buzau, Avitum company took over the centres of county clinical emergency hospitals of Targu-Mures and Targu-Jiu, while Nefromed Dialysis Centers took over centres of Cluj and Alba Iulia emergency hospitals.

“We will also get involved in the second phase of the project for outsourcing the dialysis centres in Romania, which is most likely to start next year, though not earlier than June,” Voiculescu also said.

Fresenius entered the Romanian market in 1994, while the domestic branch of the parent company was set up in 2000. In 2003, Fresenius Romania registered turnover worth around 16.7 million euros, in line with Finance Ministry data, while the company”s representatives forecast annual growth by about 8-10%.

The company”s portfolio also includes programme and computer systems used for the online tracking of the multiple medical parameters of the dialysis process, as well as for the online analysis of the quality of the dialysis treatment.

The dialysis services market is strictly bound to financing by the National Health Insurance Office, as well as to the programmes carried out by the Health Ministry. alexandru.cerchez@zf.ro