The National Police reported suspicions of pharmacies network owners who “schemes” were exposed in the illegal sale of medicines from

In the Chief Investigation Department of the National Police reported suspicion to the owners and staff of the Kiev pharmacy network “El’farm”, which journalists “Scheme” (Radio Liberty) in August 2024 were exposed in the trade of Russian and Western drugs produced specifically for the Russian Federation, despite the ban on the ban and during a full -scale war. This is stated in the message of the National.

The owners of “El’farm”-citizens of Azerbaijan Elvin and Ashgin Bagirov, as well as two pharmacists whose names do not reveal the names of the police, suspect in “collaboration” (Part 4 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The maximum punishment for this is up to 5 years of confiscation of property. On February 26 and 27, the Kyiv Pechersk Court must choose precautions for all four suspects.

The day before, according to the National Pedagogy, investigators conducted a series of searches in pharmacies “El’farm” and in the apartments of network owners in Kiev and “seized mobile phones and computers with evidence of crimes committed and more than a hundred named foreign medicines, including more ”.

At present, none of the pharmacies of the network work. Following the police to the State Medical Service, in the fall of 2024 the control body deprived them of licenses.

According to the investigation, the medicine was first transferred from Russia to Moldova by bus, and from there the Bagirov brothers personally took them and imported into Ukraine in hand luggage, smuggling. Then these Russian medicines were sold by businessmen in their pharmacies El’farm in Kiev at prices 3-10 times higher than the cost of these drugs. Earned using a shortage.

Law enforcement officers found that only from October 2022 to April 2024 the Bagirov transferred more than 1.5 million hryvnias to the accounts of Russian pharmacies.

The quality of the Russian drugs imported to Ukraine, which was traded in the pharmacy “El’farm” – uncontrolled, and therefore these medicines could be a danger to those who used them.

At the same time, this pharmacy network had been licensed by the State of Medicinal Service by the fall of 2024 and had successfully underwent all the inspections that the control body was conducted by 2022. At the request of Schemes in the summer of 2024, the State Service reported that three times they found violations in El’farm, which were reported by law enforcement officers and for which the owners were fined. The pharmacy has worked in Kiev for over six years.

In August 2024, the Scheme journalists published an investigation stating that the Kiev pharmacy network “El’farm” despite the ban and during a full -scale war, trade Russian and Western drugs produced specifically for the Russian Federation. “Schemes” revealed this by conducting a journalistic experiment and purchasing illegal drugs at El’farm.

So “Schemes” found that Russian medicines were sold carefully at the Kiev pharmacy network – on the pre -order by phone, and then sent the client with new mail. It is – for example, “Cortexin”, which is produced in the Moscow company by the company “Hearm”. But the drugs that Western companies produce specifically for the Russian market, in El’farm traded openly-through the site of the Tabletki.ua price aggregator. Among them atarax of the Belgian company UCB Pharma and the “Vobenzim” German Mucos Pharma.

Both European manufacturers then assured “schemes” that strictly comply with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation and supply only drugs in the country in appropriate packaging.

As the Schemes established in their investigation, based on the customs database data, atarax, which was traded in the Kiev network “El’farm”, came from a party, which from January to April 2024 was sent by the manufacturer from Belgium to Russia. Official representative, Yusb Pharma Logistix.

The Schemes also handed over the packaging of the drug “Vobensim”, which journalists purchased at El’farm, to Berlin, to the head office of Mucos Pharma manufacturer Mucos Pharma to find out its origin. The company conducted research and replied that these medicines were original, produced for the Russian market and could not get into the Ukrainian pharmacy legally.

Within the framework of the Scheme journalistic investigation, they also addressed the law enforcement officers to find out if they knew about the sale of illegal drugs at the Elithpharm pharmacy network. Subsequently, in the summer of 2024, the owners of pharmacies came with searches, during which more than 50 drugs made, in particular, in Russia. The police then reported that they stopped “the sale of medicines of Russian production, which were entered into the territory of Ukraine illegally.”

But even after searches and criminal cases, El’farm continued to sell illegal medicines – “Schemes” established this by ordering again in “El’farm” the Russian drug “Cortexin” was forbidden and received it again by mail from one of the owners of the network, Elvin Bagirov.

However, Eliffm does not work at the moment, and the network owners are waiting for a court decision in the case of “collaborative activity”.

The “schemes” were associated with the Bagirov brothers, but only one of them answered – Elvin. When asked why Elithpham sells Russian drugs in Ukraine, Elvin Bagirov denied it.

It is forbidden to sell Russian medicines in Ukraine since June 2022 – for this the pharmacy can be deprived of licenses, and owners are at least fined for UAH 1700. And in the case of cooperation with Russian companies, it is even to be imprisoned for up to 12 years for the absence of the aggressor. Also under the ban on the sale of Western drugs produced for markets of other countries, including Russia – for this the pharmacy also threatens to deprive the license, and its owners – a fine.