"Slovakia Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q3 2016" Published

Slovakia will remain a modest investment opportunity for multinational drugmakers. While expenditure for both healthcare and pharmaceuticals is high, greater funding efficiency is needed. Recent years have been turbulent for the healthcare sector, with a lack of progress on new legislation apparent. The appointment of a new minister of health is hoped to improve the situation, but the outlook remains unclear.

Headline Expenditure Projections

Pharmaceuticals: EUR1.91bn (USD2.10bn) in 2015 to EUR1.97bn (USD2.12bn) in 2016; +2.8% in local currency terms and +0.6% in US dollar terms. Forecast unchanged from last quarter.
Healthcare: EUR6.15bn (USD6.76bn) in 2015 to EUR6.38bn (USD6.86bn) in 2016; +3.7% in local currency terms and +1.5% in US dollar terms. Forecast revised slightly downwards from last quarter.

Full Report Details at
- http://www.fastmr.com/prod/1191669_slovakia_pharmaceuticals.aspx?afid=301

Risk/Reward Index

Slovakia's risk index indicates the country has one of the best business environments in the Central and Eastern European region, although its ranking is moderated by its less-than-impressive rewards score. Consequently, Slovakia has a Risk/Reward Index score of 57.9 out of 100, making it now the fifth-most attractive pharmaceutical market in Central and Eastern Europe, up from the sixth position in the last quarter.

Latest Updates

According to Medlines, several Slovak hospitals experienced a shortage of qualified nurses on February 1, as the termination notice periods of 540 nurses ended. The nurses had submitted their notices in December as a form of protest against the lack of progress in talks with the Health Ministry regarding pay and working conditions. According to the law, healthcare workers are banned from going on strike in Slovakia. While the Health Ministry and management at the affected hospitals claim that healthcare provision is assured, the outgoing nurses say the situation is far from stable, as newly hired nurses lack qualifications. To counter this, Health Minister Viliam Cislak filed a criminal complaint on February 3, accusing the nurses' representatives of spreading false information.

Small and medium-sized hospitals need an additional EUR95mn in order to stabilise the healthcare sector, according to president of the Slovak Hospitals Association Marian Petko following his meeting with new health minister Tomas Drucker on March 31. The additional funding would mainly be used to raise salaries.

BMI Economic View

Conservative fiscal policy in Slovakia will continue despite the ruling Smer-SD party losing its majority and being forced into a coalition. With public debt and deficit ratios comparing favourably to peers, strong growth and ultra-low borrowing costs will facilitate fiscal consolidation in the coming years.

BMI Political View

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