The Medsi clinic chain has created a subsidiary in Kyrgyzstan

The large Russian chain of Medsi clinics, part of AFK Sistema, which promised to begin expansion into foreign markets, registered its first subsidiary to provide medical services in Kyrgyzstan. According to Kommersant, the company plans to enter Kazakhstan. CIS countries may be of interest to Russian private medicine players, since further expansion of large networks within the country is limited, experts say.

During the first half of the year, Medsi Group of Companies registered a subsidiary company, Medsi Ordo, in Kyrgyzstan, where the clinic network owns 100%, according to the group’s IFRS reporting. Information on the registration of a legal entity with the profile “hospital activities” is also available in the materials of the Ministry of Justice of Kyrgyzstan. The new company is headed by the director of the Medsi PPP, Georgy Bykov.

According to Kommersant sources in the medical services market, Medsi also plans to enter the Kazakhstan market and has already considered purchasing at least one of the 18 clinics of the local Mediker Healthcare network. There, as in Medsi, they did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Medsi Ordo became the first company of the group registered abroad, the report says. This year the group registered brands in the field of medical services Medsi International Healthcare and Medsi Medicine of Competence in several countries, including the UAE, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (see Kommersant on September 5).

Eqiva estimates the volume of the Kyrgyz commercial services market at approximately 30 billion rubles. Every year, according to the company, at least 60 clinics are licensed in the country, and there are at least 1.3 thousand in total, mainly in Bishkek and Osh. The driver for the growth of such services in the republic is the low availability of medical care in government organizations and the system of “co-payment” for treatment under compulsory medical insurance and at the expense of the budget, say Eqiva. With such a system, according to analysts, patients will often prefer a paid private clinic to waiting their turn for treatment in public medical institutions with a co-payment.

There are practically no representatives of the Russian medical business in Kyrgyzstan yet, except for laboratory networks. Invitro has ten franchised offices in Kyrgyzstan, Hemotest has 62 laboratory branches, and only three of them are franchised, representatives of the chains told Kommersant.

Further expansion in Russian regions is difficult due to limited effective demand and competition, primarily from state medicine, so for networks of private clinics entering foreign markets is logical, says DMG partner Vladimir Geraskin. According to him, Kyrgyzstan could attract Medsi with a lower entry price compared to other CIS countries. Eqiva consultant Maria Kolomentseva suggests that Medsi may have the goal of both becoming a significant provider in the local medical services market and selecting patients for specialized and high-tech medical care in its Moscow clinics.

Vladimir Geraskin suggests that Medsi will launch a clinic in Kyrgyzstan of a not very large format, with an area of ​​up to 5 thousand square meters. m – this will most likely be a medical center with a small hospital, diagnostic base and clinic. He estimates the possible investment volume to be up to 1 billion rubles.

Medsi is not the only Russian chain of private clinics expanding abroad for the first time since the beginning of 2023. “Chaika” has been launched in the UAE, Georgia and Armenia through partner medical centers since May (see Kommersant on August 31). The St. Petersburg network Energo is going to open in Armenia in November. And Policlinika.ru, according to its website, has already launched a clinic in Dubai: Innovation Family Policlinic received a local license in September. The network itself declined to comment. The GMS Clinic and Lahta Clinic chains are also considering several locations for opening abroad, said its founder and managing partner Igor Krasnolutsky. According to him, the company refused to launch in Kyrgyzstan due to low effective demand for the premium segment.

Polina Gritsenko