“Entrepreneurship means making the fullest possible use of your intellectual abilities, your general knowledge, your formal education, as well as the lessons learned from life and family. Every experience matters and will prove invaluable in difficult moments. When I started in business, obtaining a bank loan was almost impossible, so businesses relied on the trust extended by financially stronger partners. Working seven days a week, from morning until night, made up for the lack of financial credit and helped secure the commercial credit that remains so valuable even today.”
Anca Vlad began working while still at university, translating at medical conferences and working on patient information leaflets. In 1993, she went on to establish Fildas Trading, Romania’s largest pharmaceutical distributor. Six years later, in 1999, she also entered the retail market by acquiring a company operating 30 pharmacies in Pitești, Argeș County. From those 30 pharmacies, Catena has grown to nearly 1,000 locations today and, after three decades of activity, has reached a turnover of RON 8.6 billion.
“Today, young people have encouraging access to financing through banks, investment funds and European funding. At the same time, however, they face extensive bureaucracy and so many reporting requirements that you can no longer start out with just a handful of people, as I did, but need a much broader and fairly costly organisational structure.”
In a market that has seen some of Romania’s largest transactions, Anca Vlad has remained true to her belief in continuing to build in Romania. Beyond her own business, she has also been a strong advocate for Romanian private capital in the economy and for the role entrepreneurs play in the country’s development. The transition of the Fildas-Catena Group to the next generation was therefore a natural step, carefully prepared over several years.
“My children grew up witnessing an atmosphere of constant building and an ongoing dialogue with people from every field. They also saw how rewarding the joy of success and achievement can be. There was no way they could become complacent, because our lives were a constant whirlwind of experiences. Later, they proved to me that they had ambition, earning places at the University of Cambridge — my son — and Yale University — my daughter — through their own efforts. In other words, they showed that they are capable and willing to carry the torch forward,” she said.
In an earlier interview with ZF, Anca Vlad spoke about how “the transition to the next generation in the business had essentially been completed” several years ago, before the crisis brought her back into the company as an economic adviser.
“I wanted to devote my time to the cultural projects I had postponed for so long. I managed to achieve several remarkable things in promoting art, as well as in encouraging a healthy lifestyle. However, the current macroeconomic environment led the Board to conclude that my experience of previous crises could help the Group,” she told ZF in 2025.
“What I admire about them [her two children – Ed.], and about the younger generation in general, is the seriousness with which they look to the future, their desire to do good and to support humanity, in all its forms, with genuine warmth. We work with many young people in the company. They are enthusiastic and eager to prove their talent. Young pharmacists and pharmacy assistants, colleagues working in our warehouses and drivers, economists and IT specialists all make up an extraordinary team.
Before taking over the leadership of the Fildas-Catena Group, my son spent seven years working across various departments. He experienced that energy first-hand, and I was immensely happy when he chose to take the helm. This opens the way to many more achievements and accomplishments in the years ahead,” Anca Vlad concluded.
