Slovenia is one of the richest countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Its per capita expenditure on pharmaceuticals is the highest among the Central European countries. As a medical doctor herself, Diana Dimnik has always been convinced of Slovenia’s market potential.
“I have been working in a hospital in anaesthesiology and gained a lot of experience”, says Medias International’s owner and Managing Director Diana Dimnik. “These experiences have deeply influenced my business ideas.”Diana Dimnik founded Medias International in 1992. “At that time, Slovenia was still very young,” explains Ms. Dimnik.
“My idea was to establish a company that offered pharmaceutical products and services to the customer in one person. I started with only one employee. Our aim was to have the knowledge and use of the products as well as good distributions channels and after-sales services. The concentration of competencies to the benefit of the customer has always characterized our approach. We wanted to provide services to our suppliers such as legal advices including registrations and tenders and we wanted our customers to feel on the safe side with our products. We knew other companies working in this field; one company used to offer one service. We, on the other hand, gathered everything in one company.”
Today, Medias International has 50 employees and a turnover of twelve million EUR. Its headquarters and warehouse facilities are based in Ljubljana. “Our strategy has been successful from the beginning,” adds Ms. Dimnik.
“With our product portfolio we cover the whole range from the patient to the most scientific side in medical industries. There are only about two million people in Slovenia. Our turnover would even be bigger if the market was bigger. Furthermore, our market is very restrictive and under governmental control. This is why we needed to construct a warehouse similar to a pharmacy with different areas and a very sophisticated climate control.”
Medias International’s core competence is the marketing and selling of different medical disposables and generic drugs. Furthermore, the company develops sophisticated biomedical products for laboratories and a broad spectrum of hospital equipment and services along with it.
“We always adapt to new market needs,” explains Ms. Dimnik. “The technologies are exploding at the moment and the laboratories really need new tools. At the same time, we can see that more and more hospitals will need to outsource services like managing the laundry service. We are developing a team that is able to manage this kind of services.”
Thanks to its highly skilled employees Medias International regularly launches innovative products such as a device to look for five vital signs to diagnose 15 diseases in an instant or a preventive diagnostic instrument to measure the anklebrachial index, which determines the arterial blood pressure when lying to check out the conditions of the patient’s arteries.
“We hire overeducated staff to provide the best products to the end users,” underlines Ms. Dimnik. “The expertise is our main strength, it is an absolute must for me. Half of our employees are biologists, doctors and pharmacists. I invested in our team because I appreciate that knowledge.”
Medias International is going to stick to this successful strategy which had led to a steady growth even in times of economic crisis. And it will keep up its flexibility and professionalism towards both suppliers and clients.