SKOPJE (Macedonia), March 9 (SeeNews) – Macedonian surgical health care provider PZU Filip Vtori will start the construction of a 67 million euro ($93 million) hospital in Skopje in May or June, its general manager said.
The project, which will be fully funded by the company, will run in three stages, as the first one is estimated at 25-30 million euro, Zan Mitrev, who is also a renown cardiac surgeon told SeeNews in an emailed interview on Tuesday.
“We have several strategic partners but my idea was that Filip Vtori launch the project on its own and a serious potential partner, German concern RHON-KLINIKUM Germany, join in later,” Mitrev said.
Privately-held Filip Vtori (Philip II) (www.cardiosurgery.com.mk) launched operations on March 1, 2000, renting premises at the Skopje Military Hospital. Since then, it has performed 9,000 surgeries, over 120,000 medical examinations and 30,000 other interventions, the country's Economic Chamber said recently quoting Mitrev.
In June, 2010 it won an auction for a 8,400 square metre plot in Skopje's municipality of Karpos earmarked for health care facilities, offering to pay for it 105 million denars ($2.3 million/1.7 million euro).
The new hospital will cover an area of 20,000 square metres with nine surgeries and 200 beds. It will employ 1,000-1,200 people when running at full capacity, compared to 220 which Filip Vtori employs at present.
“Science and technology are making big progress and everything we do in terms of medical technology requires appropriate space,” Mitrev said.
Filip Vtori is in the process of acquiring the necessary permits, after which it will select a construction company, he added.
Before launching Filip Vtori, Zan Mitrev built a career in Germany and Switzerland.
“I and my team are ready for much bigger accomplishments,” Mitrev said.
($=0.7212 euro)