The Competition Council approved the economic concentration of two major players on the Moldovan pharmaceutical market.
The plenary session of the Competition Council considered the notice of economic concentration received at the end of January 2021 and called the acquisition by Grin-Farm of the Moldovan-Hungarian enterprise RihpangalFarma and the acquisition of control over Gedeon Richter - Rețea Farmaceutică by Birivofarm as suitable to the competitive environment. Grin-Farm and Birivofarm are owned by entrepreneur Dorian Berdos (in the first company, about 40% of the authorized capital belongs to his wife Lucia Berdos). The main activity of both companies is pharmaceutical, they operate the Felicia pharmacy network, which at the end of June 2020 included 118 pharmacies throughout the country, and this is the third largest pharmacy chain in Moldova (on 1st place is Farmacia Familiei (182), 2nd - Hippocrates (141 pharmacies). The Gedeon Richter network, which is managed by RihPangalPharma, includes 39 pharmacies. According to official data, in 2019 Grin-Farm sales revenues amounted to 250 million lei (+ 34% compared to 2018), and the net profit increased from 1.85 million lei in 2018 to 4.35 million lei. The company has employed 214 people. In 2019, Birivofarm received a net profit of 4.9 million lei (+13.1% compared to 2018), and its sales revenue amounted to 368.1 million lei (up 2.1 times). The company has employed 521 people. At the same time, the sales revenue of the Moldovan-Hungarian enterprise RihpangalFarma in 2019 amounted to 715.69 million lei (+ 8.6% compared to 2018), and the net profit decreased from 26.7 million lei in 2018 to 17.2 million lei. The turnover of the Moldovan-Hungarian company Gedeon Richter - Rețea Farmaceutică in 2019 amounted to 113.2 million lei (-5.5% compared to 2018), ending it with a loss of 3.6 million lei (against a profit of 0.45 million lei in 2018). The Competition Council points out that the Berdos family also owns the following companies: Business-Impuls (advertising agency), Alexcior (property maintenance and rental activities), Cristis-Service (hairdressing and other beauty services), Dalomites (hotel activities), and UWC Valut-Atlant (intermediary financial activities). It should be noted that 51% of the authorized capital of Gedeon Richter - Rețea Farmaceutică and 65% in RihpangalFarma belongs to the Hungarian S.A. Richter Gedeon Vegyeszeti Gyar Nyilvanosan Mukodo Rt. The entrepreneur Asia Odobescu is co-owner in both companies. Both companies have a staff of about 290 people. The products of the Hungarian manufacturer Gedeon Richter occupy more than 6% of the pharmaceutical market in Moldova. The Competition Council has studied the market for the import and sale of pharmaceuticals; after the completion of the economic concentration, the Felicia group will occupy a leading position in the market, the Hippocrates, Orient, Elody chains will remain major players. The remaining 247 enterprises in the pharmaceutical market have a share of less than 1%. // 24.03.2021 - InfoMarket.
