Where the sectoral growth niches that could pull the rest of the economy might be, the Zagreb Institute of Economics seeks to find out through its regular sector analyses.
In the analysis of the current and future position of the pharmaceutical industry, unfortunately, there are no such hopes. The analysis does show that last year the revenues of the top ten increased by as much as 16 percent, but this year and next year, the three largest players – Pliva, Belupo, and JGL – do not have a bright outlook at home. JGL, led by Ivo Usmiani, partly because it has the most unfavorable debt-to-equity ratio (a HBOR loan of 350 million kuna for capacity construction), but mostly due to the HZZO’s recommendation to doctors to prescribe only the cheapest medicines and budget cuts, will turn to foreign markets. This is also the reason for the new investments of the three largest companies, which are additionally hiring.
