Only Bidders with Over 100 Mln Euro in 2008 Sales Will Be Able To Vie for Serbia's Galenika

Interested candidates also must have a five-year uninterrupted experience in the pharmaceutical industry, the asset-selling agency said in a statement prior to the official launch of the tender scheduled for Tuesday. Potential bidders can buy tender documents by February 19, 2010.

The deadline for submitting indicative bids for the purchase of Galenika will expire on March 19, 2010.

Two weeks ago Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said the government would not consider bids lower than 200 million euro for 100% of Galenika.

Serbian drug maker Hemofarm, owned by Germany’s STADA, will take part in the prequalification tender for the sale of Galenika, b92 (www.b92.net) quoted Hemofarm vice president Dragomir Curcic as saying last week.

The privatisation of Galenika will be completed in two stages. The first stage is the prequalification tender, which will enable the government to see who is interested in strategic partnership with the drug maker. The second stage will be a tender with binding bids based on which Serbia will decide whether to sell Galenika. Dinkic also said that the government will postpone sale if it does not receive appropriate bids.

Galenika expects its net profit to rise by around 10% to 7.0 million euro this year, its CEO Nenad Ognjenovic told SeeNews earlier. The company's main domestic competitors include Sumadijalek, owned by Greek pharmaceutical company Alapis, and Hemofarm.

($=0.6828 euro)