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European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Nov 26 2014
EBRD Helps Armenia's Liqvor Go for Growth
Liqvor, a privately owned pharmaceutical producer in Armenia, has
undergone an exemplary transition from small-scale company to regional
leader thanks to an EBRD investment of US $1.5 million and Early
Transition Countries Fund donor support.
Liqvor's success has many faces: quadrupled revenues, achieving the
first ever Good Manufacturing Practice certificate in the
TransCaucasus and growing exports to almost every post-Soviet country
and beyond.
A pioneering producer
Across the region, consumers are the biggest beneficiaries of
EBRD-Liqvor cooperation This innovative pharmaceutical producer has
brought generic medicines to the market and made it possible to access
drugs more easily and cheaply.
Liqvor was initially a "garage" based business run by two local
scientists-turned-entrepreneurs, Dr Sergey Matevossyan and Hovhannes
Ghazaryan, who quickly found a prescription for success. They found a
niche in the market and introduced local equivalents of branded
medicines, while at the same time helping the pharmaceutical industry
grow.
Breaking old habits
Armenia's pharmaceutical sector traditionally suffered from a lack of
transparency, low numbers of domestic companies and a prevalence of
smuggled drugs. Breaking the old habits of the healthcare system was
not an easy task in 1991 just as the Soviet Union collapsed.
Yet that year Liqvor became the first private pharmaceutical company
in Armenia and the first in the CIS to manufacture infusion solutions
in plastic packaging according to European standards.
Between 2004 and 2005 the EBRD, with support from the Early Transition
Countries Fund, agreed to provide a US $500,000 equity investment for
the purchase of a new production line for single-dose injections in
small glass vials, the design of a factory and "clean rooms" necessary
to obtain an international standards certificate.
A comprehensive growth strategy enabled Liqvor to extend its product
range and facilitate exports with ophthalmic solutions in small
plastic bottles.
Soon after the EBRD's Business Advisory Services (BAS) programme made
technical assistance funding available. Liqvor could now acquire a
computerised financial management information system for better
financial and tax accounting, cost accounting, inventory management,
procurement, sales and human resources processes. A key breakthrough
In 2010, with a mezzanine capital investment of US$1 million from the
EBRD, Liqvor made a breakthrough and raised a further US$2.9 million
from local banks, subsequently becoming eligible for the Armenia's
first Good Manufacturing Practice certificate.
Dr Matevossyan is proud of their achievements. "Cooperation with the
EBRD as an institutional investor has greatly benefitted our company,"
he said. "We implemented corporate management culture, we implemented
financial discipline, and we got acquainted with new tools that were
unknown to us."
Since the EBRD first invested in Liqvor, sales have quadrupled - from
US $1 million in 2005 to US $4 million in 2013. With 96 highly
qualified employees at present, the company is planning on hiring more
experts. Their growth in exports looks set to continue too, with the
company considering entering new markets in Vietnam and Yemen.
"Our aim is to be a regional leader in the production of effective
medicines. We want to build a healthy society, and while doing so
increase our production capacity and exports," Dr Matevossyan said.
"We will create new jobs which will help Armenia's economy to recover,
increase our share of Armenia's pharmaceutical industry, and grow the
country's exports."
Source: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Nov 26 2014
EBRD Helps Armenia's Liqvor Go for Growth
Liqvor, a privately owned pharmaceutical producer in Armenia, has
undergone an exemplary transition from small-scale company to regional
leader thanks to an EBRD investment of US $1.5 million and Early
Transition Countries Fund donor support.
Liqvor's success has many faces: quadrupled revenues, achieving the
first ever Good Manufacturing Practice certificate in the
TransCaucasus and growing exports to almost every post-Soviet country
and beyond.
A pioneering producer
Across the region, consumers are the biggest beneficiaries of
EBRD-Liqvor cooperation This innovative pharmaceutical producer has
brought generic medicines to the market and made it possible to access
drugs more easily and cheaply.
Liqvor was initially a "garage" based business run by two local
scientists-turned-entrepreneurs, Dr Sergey Matevossyan and Hovhannes
Ghazaryan, who quickly found a prescription for success. They found a
niche in the market and introduced local equivalents of branded
medicines, while at the same time helping the pharmaceutical industry
grow.
Breaking old habits
Armenia's pharmaceutical sector traditionally suffered from a lack of
transparency, low numbers of domestic companies and a prevalence of
smuggled drugs. Breaking the old habits of the healthcare system was
not an easy task in 1991 just as the Soviet Union collapsed.
Yet that year Liqvor became the first private pharmaceutical company
in Armenia and the first in the CIS to manufacture infusion solutions
in plastic packaging according to European standards.
Between 2004 and 2005 the EBRD, with support from the Early Transition
Countries Fund, agreed to provide a US $500,000 equity investment for
the purchase of a new production line for single-dose injections in
small glass vials, the design of a factory and "clean rooms" necessary
to obtain an international standards certificate.
A comprehensive growth strategy enabled Liqvor to extend its product
range and facilitate exports with ophthalmic solutions in small
plastic bottles.
Soon after the EBRD's Business Advisory Services (BAS) programme made
technical assistance funding available. Liqvor could now acquire a
computerised financial management information system for better
financial and tax accounting, cost accounting, inventory management,
procurement, sales and human resources processes. A key breakthrough
In 2010, with a mezzanine capital investment of US$1 million from the
EBRD, Liqvor made a breakthrough and raised a further US$2.9 million
from local banks, subsequently becoming eligible for the Armenia's
first Good Manufacturing Practice certificate.
Dr Matevossyan is proud of their achievements. "Cooperation with the
EBRD as an institutional investor has greatly benefitted our company,"
he said. "We implemented corporate management culture, we implemented
financial discipline, and we got acquainted with new tools that were
unknown to us."
Since the EBRD first invested in Liqvor, sales have quadrupled - from
US $1 million in 2005 to US $4 million in 2013. With 96 highly
qualified employees at present, the company is planning on hiring more
experts. Their growth in exports looks set to continue too, with the
company considering entering new markets in Vietnam and Yemen.
"Our aim is to be a regional leader in the production of effective
medicines. We want to build a healthy society, and while doing so
increase our production capacity and exports," Dr Matevossyan said.
"We will create new jobs which will help Armenia's economy to recover,
increase our share of Armenia's pharmaceutical industry, and grow the
country's exports."
Source: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress