“The pharmaceutical market is stuck in a legal vacuum: the government delays, and patients overpayThe Ukrainian pharmaceutical market has been in chaos for more than six months, despite the government’s promised reform.
Pharmacies are losing stability, and patients are overpaying for medicines, while pharmaceutical giants are making additional
profits.
”, — write: unn.ua
The law clearly set a two-month deadline for the development and adoption of the relevant resolution. More than six months have passed, but the document has still not been approved. This is an unacceptable situation when adopted laws are not implemented. That is why I prepared and sent a parliamentary request to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Health with a demand to provide information on the status of the law’s implementation, identify responsible persons, and name specific deadlines. We must act in accordance with the law, and not leave the market in limbo.
There is a law, but no resultFrom March 1, 2025, the government banned any marketing agreements between drug manufacturers and pharmacies. This was explained by the desire to eliminate additional costs included in the price of medicines. After all, as some drug manufacturers stated at the time, marketing payments that pharmaceutical manufacturers pay to pharmacies are included in the cost of medicines… and fall on the shoulders of Ukrainians. However, after a few months, it became clear that the promised price reduction did not happen. After all, pharmaceutical giants, who promised to reduce the cost of medicines due to the absence of marketing expenses for payments to pharmacies, have not done so in six months.
Monitoring showed that the cost of most drugs remained at the February level, and some categories of drugs for chronically ill patients even became more expensive. Moreover, the Ministry of Health itself publicly admitted: the reform did not yield the expected result.
The problem is that 71.5% of the cost of medicines is formed by the manufacturer. Pharmacy and distributor markups are fixed and significantly smaller. Therefore, the only ones who remained in the “Win” position are manufacturers, who earn an additional UAH 500 million every month.
Social effect: pharmacies are closingMarketing payments were used by pharmacies as an opportunity for promotions and social programs for customers. In addition, since the beginning of the full-scale war, they have provided funding for mobile pharmacies, which supplied medicines to remote communities. After the rules changed, one pharmacy chain closed two mobile pharmacy points in Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Residents of dozens of villages were effectively left without access to medicines.
Business in waiting modeThe pharmaceutical sector is currently paralyzed: the market is frozen in a state of uncertainty. Participants cannot plan either logistics or network development. This affects both business and patients.
I am not a supporter of strict percentage restrictions or excessive market regulation. In the EU, there is a different logic: they establish transparent rules, order, conditions, prohibitions, but do not fix percentages in the law. If we want to seriously talk about percentage restrictions, then this issue should be discussed not only with market participants, but also with the Committee on Economics, the Ministry of Economy, and other bodies. Otherwise, there is a risk that such norms will be regarded as direct interference in economic activity. If the Ministry of Health considers it expedient to introduce percentage restrictions, it has every reason to prepare and submit a corresponding proposal.
She also emphasized the most important thing: the main thing is that the patient should not be lost in these discussions. Medicines should become more accessible, and excessive regulation should not lead to shortages or new price increases.
Unfulfilled Presidential orderViktor Serdiuk, head of the “Council for the Protection of Patients’ Rights and Safety,” also draws attention to the problem. He reminds that back in February, President Zelenskyy instructed the government and the Ministry of Health to reduce drug prices by at least 30%. More than six months have passed, but nothing has changed.
“The problem is again being tried to be talked away, and meanwhile, patients continue to suffer from high drug prices. The President’s order has remained unfulfilled for more than six months. Because the Ministry of Health has not yet prepared the relevant proposals, the Government, accordingly, cannot introduce effective regulation of the pharmaceutical market. That is, the draft resolution that would restore marketing has not yet been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers, market participants still do not understand when market regulation will become clear and predictable, when marketing will resume and in what form. Accordingly, it is difficult for businesses to plan their work even in the short term, which undoubtedly affects the availability of medicines.”
According to Serdiuk, pharmaceutical manufacturers reduced the cost of only a limited number of “Top 100” drugs. However, most drugs, especially for chronically ill patients, remain expensive.
Who benefits from the crisis?Against the background of this uncertainty in the pharmaceutical market, the theory that one of the pharmaceutical giants has an MP “on a short leash” is increasingly heard. He actively opposes marketing agreements, although they have been banned for six months now.
Moreover, analysts emphasize the possible identity of the statements of the people’s deputy and the public rhetoric of the pharmaceutical giant “Darnytsia”. Its owners have the organization “Zagoria Family Charitable Foundation”, which previously transferred UAH 9.5 million to the account of the Kuzmin brothers’ fund.
It should be recalled that the Kuzmins are also currently being tried for receiving a bribe of more than half a million hryvnias. Court hearings in the HACC have been ongoing for almost six months, but there is still no verdict. This is because the Kuzmins are delaying the process.