EAST EUROPEAN FIRMS IN DIFFICULTY

All pharmaceutical manufacturers in former communist countries in eastern Europe (eastern Germany, the Baltic states, Bulgaria, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Russian Federation) are currently in a difficult situation, according to a new report by Euromonitor.

The report, entitled Consumer Health Care Markets in Eastern Europe, says that they are under pressure because of a lack of funds to update and upgrade their technology, and to buy quality ingredients. There is also a large amount of pressure from competition (both from east and west) and an increasingly impoverished consumer base.

The best performer out of these states, says the report, is eastern Germany. Harmonization of the health care system was one of the first changes to be implemented when unification took place in Germany. As a result, the health care market of the former GDR has developed significantly when compared with other countries in eastern Europe which converted from communist rule.