Insolvency Test
Invitro Diagnostics network, specializing in laboratory diagnostics, may enter the insolvency process due to multi-million debts to the supplier company GBG Mld. Owner of GBG Mld, Tudor Ceaicovschi, announced this during a press conference on Wednesday.
He noted that his son Alexandru Ceaicovschi has owned a 50% stake in Invitro Diagnostics since 2016, but he was removed from the business in 2021. From that period, Invitro began generating debts to GBG, which are now estimated by the supplier at 26.3 million lei (MDL).
"From 2016 to 2021, Invitro Diagnostics grew rapidly, becoming the largest operator in laboratory diagnostics, with a network of 40 branches across the country," said Tudor Ceaicovschi. - Thus, the company's net profit reached 18 million lei in 2019, 40 million lei in 2020 and 91 million lei in 2021. However, last year, Invitro registered a loss of 2.8 million lei. Which is more than strange: the market is growing, the number of patients increases annually, while the income of competing medical laboratories increased within 30%. I believe that the negative financial indicators prove a deliberate devaluation of the business in order to squeeze out the unwanted partner".
Tudor Ceaicovschi told reporters that he conducted an internal investigation into Invitro's operations, revealing a number of discrepancies related to Covid testing. "According to the report submitted by the company's administration, about 59.8 thousand Covid tests were conducted in 2020, while according to the information provided by the National Public Health Agency (ANSP), there were conducted 68.8 thousand tests. In 2021, the company conducted 237.3 thousand Covid tests, while according to the official information from ANSP - 272.6 thousand. The analysis of these data shows a difference of more than 44 thousand tests in the period 2020-2021, and this discrepancy is not reflected in the accounting reports. Moreover, the cost of these tests was greatly inflated: at a price of 150 lei, patients were charged from 800 to 2 thousand lei for one test, and this excessive profit also raises questions".
In addition, the businessman claims that not all Covid tests taken from patients were carried out in accordance with the methodology approved by the manufacturer of these products.
The owner of GBG Mdl announced that he intends to apply to law enforcement agencies, including the Anti-Corruption Center (CNA), Prosecutor's Office, customs and tax authorities to conduct inspections of Invitro Diagnostics.
A reasonable question arises: why is Mr. Ceaicovschi making this story public now? According to him, he decided to sell the business share in Invitro owned by his family because he saw no point in continuing the troubled partnership.
"Since 2021, I have repeatedly received offers to buy my stake (half) in the company," said the businessman. - There were serious investors, including foreign ones (according to our data, the Romanian chain Regina Maria and one of the Baltic operators - LP - were among the contenders). Now we have a potential buyer from Moldova, who knows about our internal problem, but is still ready to conclude a sale and purchase deal. However, the second owner of the company strongly disagrees with this. I offered him several options to resolve the conflict, up to the division of the business, but to no avail".
When asked by LP whether the company had been evaluated, the entrepreneur said that it had been done by the Moldovan firm Dynamic Audit. This analysis has not been finalized, although, according to preliminary data, the business of Invitro Diagnostics was valued at 30 million euros.
P. S. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes information in this story. That is why it became an informing opportunity for LP to tell in detail about the work of the whole laboratory diagnostics market and its key operators. Read more details in the next issues of LP.
Sourse: Logos-Press
