Drug producer Terapia Ranbaxy, one of the leading players on the domestic pharmaceuticals market, is to contract a loan worth up to 25 million euros, according to information published in the Official Gazette.
"The loan will be used to finance current company requirements, and as capital investment for 2007. With regard to the lender, we are currently in talks with various banking groups in order to establish the best borrowing conditions," said Dragos Damian, CEO of Terapia Ranbaxy.
Both movable and fixed assets owned by the company will be used to guarantee the loan.
During a General Meeting of Shareholders (AGA), the company approved the sale of an up to 10-hectare area of land including the existing buildings, fittings and equipment. The company also approved the appointment of Sethi Omesh Kumar as manager, who replaces the ousted Satyamurti Ramasundar.
The Cluj-based company's majority stakeholder is India's Ranbaxy group, which last year acquired 96.7% in the company, in a deal worth 324 million dollars.
Ranbaxy's plans for Terapia include investments exceeding 10 million dollars this year, along the lines of similar investments conducted in 2006.
Last year, Terapia's export levels reached 10 million dollars, with the pharmaceutical product Faringosept proving to be one of the most popular Romanian-made products sold on foreign markets, and generating sales of 9 million dollars.
The main countries to which Terapia exports its products are Russia and Ukraine. Another drug with significant export potential is Aspacardin (used in the treatment and prevention of heart diseases), which is currently exported to Ukraine.
The exports of the factory in Cluj will also include the molecules transferred for production in Romania. However, this does not mean that production in India will completely cease rather that the company intends to improve production capabilities. At present, Cluj production capacities account for 60-70% of the company's total output.
In the first three months of this year, Ranbaxy generated 50 percent higher domestic sales compared with the same period last year. As a result of the positive figures, the company predicts it will maintain last year's growth rate- registered as the fastest on the pharmaceuticals market.
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