The state pumps €1 bln onto the medical equipment market

Siemens, General Electric and Philips, the largest suppliers of such equipment and the three companies that virtually claim the entire local market, will each probably walk away with a portion of this increase in expenditures covered by the public sector.

Furthermore, even though the project is very ambitious, it is meant to be extend over eight years and will generate a staggered market increase over time. “This is a very large project, and we must bear in mind that even if we sign contracts tomorrow, the first pieces of equipment will not be delivered any earlier than three years,” according to a statement for Business Standard by Marian Ghinescu, Director of the Healthcare division of Siemens Romania. 

Ghinescu went on to explain that because each company has a certain range of products, 30 percent of the necessary equipment is not part of the Siemens portfolio, so the German company will be able to bid only for equipment worth €700 million of the total project. If the current market share is taken into consideration, believed by Siemens representatives to be 45 percent, the company could see a rise in turnover worth €315 mln. It sold €16 mln worth of equipment in 2007, and is expecting almost double this year, at €30 mln.

However, Ghinescu believes that although the state is planning ambitious projects in the health care field, the engine of local medical equipment market growth will come from the private sector.

The medical equipment market is estimated by company representatives to be worth €150 mln, and to increase by an annual 30 percent.