The international financial crisis could trigger the postponement of some investments in the private medical services industry, budget reviews, and freeze the increase in prices of services, according to the main players in the field. Most exposed are the players where corporate contracts account for most of their business, as there is the risk that these customers might give up a series of benefits, which include health subscriptions and insurance. "The fallout of the crisis will come primarily as a result of a lower appetite to invest, rising pressure on payment deadlines to suppliers and an extension of corporate customers' payment deadlines. One must not overlook the inherent slowdown in economic growth expected next year, which will stall the population's purchasing power and thus halt the increase in health services prices for the first time after 2000," said Mihail Marcu, chairman of MedLife, which derived turnover worth 12.6m euros in 2007, an opinion also shared by other players. Despite effects of the crisis becoming ever more visible in Romania, the industry is not feeling any impact at present, say the representatives of Centrul Medical Unirea (CMU), which derived 10.3m-euro turnover in 2007. "(...) As regards Romania, I don't believe we are going to see dramatic changes on the short term, but if some players need to raise money to sustain investment programmes, we may see some project blocked or delayed," Sergiu Negut, CMU CEO, believes. For many players on the market of private health services, there is heavy pressure on results because they have investment funds in their shareholder structure. The battle for market share and customers is also expected to tighten.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
