Ukraine’s pharmaceutical industry is more dead than alive

The 8th annual Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Forum, organized by Adam Smith Conferences, took place at the InterContinental Hotel in Kiev on November 24-25. This flagship event for the Ukraine’s pharmaceutical industry brought together more than 200 senior pharma representatives and provided an opportunity for a dialog between authorities, the business community and analysts.

The two-day program of the forum was packed with industry-driven topics and hot discussions. Participants in the event heard 45+ senior speakers
representing key industry players from shareholders and top managers of pharmaceutical companies to distributors, as well as got interactive with panel sessions.

Making his address to the forum, Viktor Pushkareov, president of the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in Ukraine, pointed out that reforms of regulating access and the turnover of drugs started in this country, though they were slow-paced and nonsystematic. To remove groundless obstacles blocking the supply of consumers with products, it is necessary to establish the coherent system of bylaws.

According to Vladimir Rudenko, director of the Pharmacy Professional Association of Ukraine, over 50 active acts overlap each other today, many of these documents being ineffective and outdated. For instance, the law on medicines, which was adopted in 1996, remains unchanged.

During a discussion about the strategy for managing the pharmaceutical industry, Konstantin Kosyachenko, president of the Ukrainian Agency of Health Technology Assessment, accused the Yatsenyuk government of the irresponsible decision to transfer the right of state purchases of drugs to international organizations. At present, 86% of the market is financed by patients. The share of government spending on antibiotics accounts for a measly 25%. At the same time, household spending on healthcare and drugs makes up only 3.6% that can be explained by the fact that 57% of Ukrainians earn a monthly per capita income in the amount of 2,910 grivnas ($122) while prices of utilities have skyrocketed, thanks to the IMF shock therapy mafia. To make matters worse, 80% of citizens of Ukraine live below the official poverty level.

Speaking about work of the sector, Yevgeni Nayshtetik, founder of the project Platform 20K, stressed that he did not see a single drugstore in Ukrainian villages. There are only two casualty helicopters in Ukraine, according to him. Mr. Nayshtetik contrasted the lame Ukrainian sector with the robust Soviet public health system that was connected with chemical and biological industries. Believe it or not, the Soviet public health system provided chemical and biological security not only in the U.S.S.R., but the world over.