I thought it would be a good idea to drop this information here:
The Moldovian Prime Minister thinks pretty highly of "Balkan Pharmaceuticals". Just saying...
Code:http://www.gov.md/libview.php?l=en&id=6189&idc=436
Acting Prime Minister Vlad Filat today paid a visit to the “BalkanPharmaceuticals” pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Singera town
Attending the event were also Deputy Health Minister Octavian Grama, the director general of the Moldovan Medicines Agency, Alexandru Coman, the director general of the "BalkanPharmaceuticals" company, Silviu Chiru and Singera mayor Valeriu Poiata.
Filat said he had decided to visit this factory, which was under construction, because it was the second largest in Europe and also because the pharmaceutical field was rather important for Moldova. Filat visited production departments, which are 80 per cent done now and are going to be functional in September.
"I am very glad that such an important investment has been made in Moldova. Please continue the investments, because the Moldovan pharmaceutical market needs them," Filat said.
For his part, Chiru said Moldova was strategically positioned, which would allow the export of pharmaceutical products to the Commonwealth of Independent States. In this context, Filat assured that Moldovan exports on the EU market would soon boost up, once the free trade agreement was signed.
The "BalkanPharmaceuticals" pharmaceutical factory has been active on the Moldovan market since 2007. The company has currently 80 employees and produces 127 types of medicine.
"The price of several pharmaceutical products have decreased by at least 50 per cent since our appearance on the market," Chiru said.
Chiru said the new factory would hire almost 400 employees, whereas the number of products would considerably increase. The director general said experts had already planned the construction on the same area of a special building, where antibiotics would be manufactured.
The factory complies with international standards and drugs good manufacturing practices. The total area of the factory reaches 18.000 square meters, whereas the total investment amounts to almost 38 million euros.
At the end of the visit, the acting prime minister wished the investors success and thanked them for investing in Moldova.
FYI, it's not "their" website; the article was NOT from the "Balkan Pharmaceutical" website.
It was on the official website of the Government of Republic of Moldova. And if I want to know what the Moldovian government thinks, it doesn't get any more official than that.
BP clearly has origins in underground. I believe BP represents the first time a source tried to "go legit" by "registering" a steroid laboratory as a pharmaceutical company in a country where the barrier to entry was low. BP is the model that many others sources/UGLs tried to follow (with varying degrees of success).
The motivations for doing this are many. Some just wanted a cover for the UGL operations. Some may have really wanted the ability to produce higher quality products. A few may have realized that there is infinitely more money in the legitimate pharmaceutical business than the limited AAS-using bodybuilding base.
Many people are skeptical with perception along the lines of 'once a UGL always a UGL'. Many have failed e.g. President Obama going after Asia Pharma. Others have made efforts to distance themselves from the bodybuilding/underground market e.g. Unigen.
And there's always the possibility that some have succeeded in making the transition e.g. Balkan. It seems more likely than the alternative of a conspiracy infiltrating the highest levels of the Moldovan government.
I don't think it's a question of legitimacy. It's probably not the right word. BP is likely just as legitimate as any other pharma in former Soviet republic at this point in time. But because of the corruption you mentioned, that does not necessarily make it a good company with quality product.
BP may never make it into the EU market. I don't know how likely it is that Moldova will ever be part of the EU. But they may not need to in order to be successful. There are a lot of people in CIS countries



