A short summary of media appearances in 2018.

A lot of work and vision. These are the words that best describe the success that Anca Vlad has achieved in entrepreneurship. As an economist, her first business was in the marketing field. Today, the Fildas-Catena group is the leader in pharmaceutical retail, and Anca Vlad has become a role model for businesswomen across Romania.

She discovered her passion for economics in high school. In 11th grade, her teacher suggested that she study the subject at university. So, in 1976, she goes to the Academy for Economic Studies – the International Economic Relations section. She started to build her career while she was still a student. Since she spoke very good English, she also worked as a guide and translator. In 1980, thanks to the results she obtained in her exams, she is assigned to Bucharest, at a company in the wood industry – today’s Silvarom. The professional experience she acquired over the seven years of working in the furniture industry, where she climbed to the role of export coordinator, would help Anca Vlad take her next steps in her entrepreneurial activity. In 1987, she had the opportunity to work in the Romanian Chamber of Commerce, as a country manager for British giant SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. This opportunity led her to international marketing and helped her gain perspective. So, after the appearance of Decree 54, the first legislative act that allowed the establishment of private companies, Anca Vlad decided to leave the public sector. She first opened a marketing office that would provide consulting services, in May 1990, and one year later she laid the foundation for Fildas, a company that started out with just seven employees and responded to the needs of the first private pharmacies. Eight years later, Anca Vlad decided to expand her business to pharmaceutical retail, by opening Catena pharmacies. The network currently has over 720 units, and the number of employees has grown exponentially every year, now exceeding 5,000.

ln order to maintain the leading position in pharmaceutical retail, the group makes constant investments in expanding its pharmacy chain. The budget allocated last year for the expansion was over EUR 10 million. Besides the success of Catena, the pharma group also operates the largest specialised warehouse network in the country through Fildas Trading, ensuring national coverage through two central warehouses located in Bucharest (Mogosoaia) and Pitesti, 12 regional logistics centres and a call centre. As the leading distributor of medical drugs, food supplements, technical-medical and cosmetic products, Fildas Trading has over 1,000 employees and a transport fleet that includes 120 average-sized vehicles and 12 heavy duty trucks. Fildas’s client portfolio includes over 3,000 pharmacies and 300 hospitals, where the company delivers more than 10,000 types of medical drugs, food supplements and cosmetic products. Fildas also offers logistics and warehousing services for international medical drugs manufacturers.

The Fildas-Catena group has a major contribution to cultural or social responsibility projects. The founder’s involvement in the country’s social and cultural life has led to the creation of the Fildas Art foundation, which supports art through its Senso Gallery project. The gallery exhibits creations by contemporary Romanian artists, and constantly promotes art both through its frequent openings as well as through the permanent exhibitions it hosts. The Fildas-Catena group is also dedicated to supporting social and charity programmes, being actively involved in several foundations and their actions: Save the Children Romania, OvidiuRO, Light into Europe, the Renasterea Foundation and HOSPICE Casa Sperantei. Furthermore, the Catena pharmacy network is constantly carrying out campaigns to inform the public about prevention and having a healthy lifestyle. Four years ago, the Catena Racing Team was created, as the largest multi-sports club of a Romanian company, which includes employees and collaborators of Catena, Fildas and Tonica Group, from Bucharest and other parts of the country, all of whom are passionate about sports and who have already received awards at the various competitions in which they have taken part.

At the same time, Fildas-Catena gives graduates the chance to work in the group through the Catena School project, which helps the development of new team members.

Article published in the entrepreneurs catalog edited by Business Review

Anca Vlad, founder of the Fildas-Catena pharmaceutical group, is part of the first generation of Romanian entrepreneurs after 1989. She is the Vice President of the Businessmen’s Association of Romania (AOAR), an apolitical organization that supports and encourages domestic capital, and she also occupies the position of Honorary President of PIAROM – the organization of Romanian Investors. In 2018, Anca Vlad, ranked first in Forbes’ top 50 most influential women in Romania.

The experience she has gained over 27 years of entrepreneurship places Anca Vlad in a position of good knowledge of the Romanian business environment. Domestic private capital continues to grow despite a lack of communication with public institutions and an ongoing high level of bureaucracy. ‘’I think we deserve better services coming from the Government than the ones we presently have”, said Anca Vlad during the Forbes CEE Forum 2018, referring to the expectations that businessmen have when it comes to public authorities.

Anca Vlad pointed out that currently there are no statistics regarding the amount of investments made by Romanian entrepreneurs, despite the fact that they have been investing for many years now. The statement is justified since, in public debates, the activities of state-owned companies and the investments of multinationals are widely discussed, while the Romanian domestic capital is more and more ignored. Romanian entrepreneurs are the biggest tax payers, but the authorities always place them in a lower position in public dialogues. However, Anca Vlad stated that the measures of reducing the corporate tax have helped Romanian entrepreneurs. She points out the difference between the Romania as a country and the Romanian politicians, although the country is governed by them.. The politicization of the public institutions would not be such a serious issue if the politics were very good. ‘’On one hand, there are employees in the public institutions who do their duties, but on the other hand, as regards the Romanian politics, I must admit that it is far behind the actual economic context.” She also referred to the country’s poor infrastructure: ‘’It is a mandatory requirement. You cannot have a place in Europe without a European infrastructure.”
The Otopeni airport is a perfect example of outdated infrastructure that shocks foreigners who arrive for the first time in Romania. “This is part of Romania’s image. The Government must get involved in helping the economy and the local entrepreneurs, and must be constantly preoccupied with improving the image of the country. Moreover, the Government must also start a dialogue with the business environment. “We deserve more attention when it comes to promoting Romanian entrepreneurship.”

Facing a general crisis in the Romanian labor market, Fildas-Catena Group found a solution to this problem by adopting innovative formulas. The Group has over 6,000 employees and continues to hire. “We look for talented young people in the pharmaceutical, IT and marketing fields. We can find them due to our strong brand, as well as to our training and promotion methods, which are well-known and highly appreciated. But I wonder what happens with those entrepreneurs who are just about to start a business and for whom finding labor force is so difficult,” says Anca Vlad. She explains that Romanian private firms face difficulties in attracting the labor force because they compete with European companies, which can appreciate the work value and repay it better. Anca Vlad considers that the worry about the departure of Romanians to work abroad is a false one. “It is about the mobility of the labor force. It is a right won by our entry into Europe and we must not see this migration as a negative thing. On the contrary, this must stimulate entrepreneurs to reach the European level of performance. This means greater effort and better cooperation with public institutions.”

Anca Vlad stated that the Romanian educational system does not offer enough practical skills, that the failure to graduate for half of those in high school is due to a tight curriculum – which forces them to neglect what truly matters. She admitted that Romanian business people are still not investing enough in educational programs. She gave the example of OvidiuRo Association and Salvați Copiii Association, which invested in very important projects for the inclusion and education of preschool and school children from underprivileged families, a must for their later evolution. “It would be a shame to lose these resources, such a shame, because there are a lot of intelligent people in Romania. It takes a national effort to make a better country”, Anca Vlad concluded.

Article published in Forbes number 199 about the Forbes CEE Forum, the only regional annual event organized in Romania since 2014, bringing together editors from the Forbes network in the CEE and EMEA regions, along with international leaders in the political, business and financial sphere.

“Romania is located on a dynamic continent, with a high degree of economic development, but also with a higher level of ecological and social consciousness than in other parts of the world. I expect a stronger European impression on our country, but at the same time, I expect us to discover our uniqueness as a nation.

I believe that the intelligence of future generations that will form in the years to come will propel us among the countries that have an IT level above the European average. Young Romanians are interested in new technologies, digitalization and robotics.

The talent in language learning and the cultural versatility (I am talking about the ease with which we adapt to other cultures) have led to the departure of large masses of people from our country. But the ability to work from home for international clients will reduce this phenomenon and will improve the living standards in Romania.

As our infrastructure is at the lowest possible level, we have the chance to come up with ultramodern solutions that will quickly fill this gap: we can switch directly to rail transportation with magnetic systems that will take us from one side of the country to another with a speed reaching 350 km/h, merchandise distribution will be carried out by drones, while traffic in major cities will be reduced by the use of low-end electric vehicles.

The future belongs to the creative industries, those based on artificial intelligence, and tourism. The health service industry will be dominated by self-monitoring and telemedicine applications.

As antibiotics will become ineffective, the focus will be on developing the patients’ own immunity system in the fight against pathogens. The level of education of Romanian physicians and pharmacists, which are well-known for meeting the European standards, will make a difference regarding the quality of life in Romania.

Administration will be fully computerized – which will help streamline the relationship with taxpayers – companies and citizens altogether.

All of these premises exist – which is why I am looking forward for the next 20 years. If we think about what has happened over the past two decades, we can see that there is a huge potential for the coming period. However, there is one condition: the modernization of the educational system, the transition towards experimental learning and practical classes, giving up to the endless hours without dialogue and the stimulation of investigative and creative thinking.”

An article from ZF.ro

Anca Vlad, chairman of Fildas Group: Some of our pharmacist colleagues choose to go to England and work, see what that’s like. Two or three years later, they return to Romania.

Keeping Romanians in their home country to support the local workforce is a duty of the employers, according to Anca Vlad, chairman of Fildas Group and vice-chairman of the Businessmen’s Association of Romania.

“Why aren’t young Romanians staying in Romania for work? Their country is Europe, they are much more inclined to experiment. Romanians are eager to see the world. It is our job to keep them here and make their life more interesting. Some stay, others don’t. I have spoken to other pharmacists who choose to go to England and work, see what that’s like. Two or three years later, they return to Romania”, says Anca Vlad, a speaker during the ZF conference The biggest players in economy.

It is our job to keep in companies the ones that are thinking about going abroad

Anca Vlad also believes that the current year was a better one for companies from a fiscal standpoint, since employers didn’t have to face that many changes in legislation.

„I think that, currently, the business environment is actually enthusiastic. Things have been better. This year was a bit quieter, we didn’t have to deal with new articles or new legislation. It’s important to have some piece of mind”, said Anca Vlad.

One solution for the workforce crisis: allowing mothers benefiting from allowance to work

“We can’t expect someone to train the people anymore, so we train them ourselves.”

The workforce crisis could be solved by reintegrating mothers who receive an allowance for raising their child sooner into the workforce. As such, Anca Vlad, chairman of the Fildas-Catena pharmaceutical group and vice-chairman of the Businessmen’s Association of Romania, suggests that mothers returning to work should keep receiving their allowance, in compliance with the law, while also receiving a salary from the company they return to or employs them during this period.

Anca Vlad made this suggestion during the ZF conference “The biggest players in economy”, which was held yesterday.

„I think that mothers receiving an allowance for raising their child should be able to return to work sooner than two years and this could partially solve the workforce issue. Women should be supported in returning to work sooner”, Anca Vlad said.

We need to invest in infrastructure, digitization and people. The economy is moving too fast and it’s too consumption oriented.

“We started with 7 employees and reached 6,000 through development and permanent reinvestment”  

Being an entrepreneur means taking chances, according to Mrs. Anca Vlad, President of Fildas – Catena Group, who points not only to risks involved by a business, but also to the fact that involvement in entrepreneurship may be a risk for family peace.

Mrs. Vlad says: “It is possible to have a discontent husband and, at the same time, you must always pay attention to what happens with children, so that children do not suffer because you have a passion, the entrepreneurship. It means taking time for them. As far as I am concerned, everything related to my children was included on the agenda as any business meeting. We have never made a distinction between business and children concerns. One should never miss any activity that is important for them”.

Fildas – Catena Group business started with 7 people, according to Mrs. Vlad, who mentions: “I don’t believe that in Romania, as business, you can work with less than 7 people , because there are many bureaucratic requirements you need to deal with. Then, the first thing when you start a business is to ask yourself whether you can be responsible for other 6-7 families. If you can, go ahead, if not, stay in the position you are in. If you can take the risk and direct responsibility for other several families, you are already on the right track”.

Now, after 27 years of existence, Fildas – Catena Group has 6,000 employees, an evolution due to permanent development and investments, according to Mrs. Anca Vlad. The President of Fildas – Catena Group mentions: “You get from 7 to 6,000 employees in time, through assumed development and permanent reinvestment. All profits, everything earned from one year to the next was reinvested for growth”.

In this context, Anca Vlad expresses her “reluctance” regarding the female entrepreneur in Romania, believing that she does not take enough risks and does not want to grow to the extent of her possibilities. In the opinion of Mrs. Vlad, a female entrepreneur has all it takes to build a large business, especially that the “woman model” is that of intuition, which she thinks is the most valuable. “We gather information, but ultimately  “the decisions we take are based on intuition”, Mr. Vlad concluded.

This text was published by Bursa.