The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, stated that Romania is currently holding preliminary discussions regarding the financial obligations to the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, worth approximately 600 million euros, stressing that there is no imminent decision in this regard.
The official stated that this is a stage of dialogue and analysis, intended to open a possible negotiation between the parties.
“It is an exploratory discussion. Of course, following these discussions and the conclusions we will draw from the discussion, we will move forward and we will probably have many more meetings at the technical level. I do not think and certainly will not make a decision with certainty tomorrow, but we will open the dialogue to a negotiation that is absolutely necessary and absolutely natural in the given context”, said the minister.
Asked about the broader context of the visit and official meetings, the minister explained that he had discussions with representatives of an international pharmaceutical company interested in investing in Romania, but also meetings at the World Bank level.
“I am coming from a meeting with a large pharmaceutical company, please, present in Romania and continuously expanding in the United States, with whom we are trying to have future partnerships for the research area and for the startup area. They want to invest in research startups in the pharmaceutical area and Romania is an important market to do this”, he declared.
He added that the discussions with the World Bank aim to continue projects in the field of health, including the infrastructure for major burns and the digitization of the medical system.
“Let’s not forget that Romania has important projects with the World Bank, we are talking about the health sector. We are talking here about the three hospitals for serious burns, the two in Timișoara and Târgu Mureș which are almost completed, the one in Bucharest for children.”
Rogobete stated that the authorities are considering the expansion of investments in this area.
“It is obvious that we need at least one more center in Bucharest, if not another one in the eastern or northeastern part of the country”, he also said.
According to him, the discussions with the representatives of the World Bank also aim at the possibility of expanding financial and technical support for new projects in the Romanian health system.
