Proposals for establishing marketing rules in the retail pharmaceutical market submitted by pharmaceutical manufacturers were not taken into account when developing the rules for marketing medicines. Instead, the interests of the pharmacy business were taken into account when preparing the draft rules, according to domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The “rules of the game” in the pharmaceutical market are not set by the state, but by five non-public business groups of pharmacy chains that control over 70% of the market. The draft resolution on marketing dated May 14, 2025, proposed by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, provides for a ban on the provision of marketing services for prescription drugs and, at the same time, limits the income of pharmacies from marketing services to 12% of the total sales of drugs (including prescription drugs),” – according to a statement by the Association of Drug Manufacturers of Ukraine (ADMU) and the Association of Employers in the Medical and Microbiological Industry, sent to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
Manufacturers emphasize that the proposed model contradicts the law and is clearly a blatant manipulation not in the interests of consumers and will lead to a 75% increase in retail prices of over-the-counter drugs to the distributor’s price.
Since over-the-counter drugs account for only 37% of the market, according to the associations, the percentage of the marketing payment in the price of an over-the-counter drug will exceed 40% of the manufacturer’s wholesale price. This is in addition to the 35% retail markup allowed by Ukrainian law. The real increase in the price of an over-the-counter drug at the pharmacy level for the consumer will be 75% of the distributor’s price, manufacturers emphasize.
“When the Ministry of Health of Ukraine approves a model of 12% marketing payment without specifying services, the result is not reform, but a 40% burden on the price of an over-the-counter drug. This is not a market mechanism, but a regressive tax on the poor: those who buy drugs without compensation pay the most,” the associations emphasize.
Manufacturers also note that the draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on drug marketing in this version of the Ministry of Health does not specify the list of permitted marketing services aimed at consumers at the point of sale, as proposed by many participants in the public discussion, but instead introduces an unjustified payment in the form of a fixed percentage of the total volume of medicines sold by pharmacies.
“This approach is more like a ‘shelf space fee’ for manufacturers. Such a payment, without a fixed list of clear, transparent services based on the European model defined at the legislative level, has nothing to do with the manufacturer’s marketing activities and is in fact a form of systematic racketeering,” the manufacturers believe.
Domestic manufacturers emphasize that during the preparation of the draft order on the provision of marketing services, all discussions boiled down to the need to develop compensation for the decline in the profitability of the pharmacy business that existed before the state limited retail markups to 35%. “All meetings boiled down to discussions about the profitability of pharmacies. Patient needs were never discussed. This is an institutional mistake,” the associations say.
Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers emphasize that the pharmacy market is oversaturated and degraded, with the number of pharmacies in Ukraine 2-3 times higher than European standards, and in large cities, there are three pharmacies “door to door” at almost every intersection. This number of pharmacies does not correspond to the actual number of pharmacists, as a result of which many pharmacies employ people without the appropriate education.
“Consumers and patients are being forced to buy unnecessary drugs from manufacturers who have agreed to pay marketing fees, while other manufacturers are simply being removed from the shelves. The “rules of the game” in the pharmaceutical market are set not by the state, but by five non-public business groups of pharmacy chains that control over 70% of the market. This is not a market — it is corporate dictatorship in the absence of state arbitration,” emphasize the leaders of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.
The associations note that today, a dirty information campaign has been launched against those manufacturers who have spoken out in favor of transparent pricing and in support of the Ukrainian president’s initiative, who have reduced the prices of their basic medicines by 30%. The medicines of these manufacturers have been effectively removed from the shelves of pharmacies belonging to the monopoly cartel.
These are the top five pharmacy chains in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market. Pharmaceutical manufacturers remind us that in support of the initiative of the President of Ukraine and the government to ensure the availability of medicines, 32 leading domestic manufacturers of medicines have reduced the retail prices of the 303 most commonly used medicines
sold and available in pharmacies in Ukraine by 30% compared to the wholesale (list) prices in January 2025.
Domestic manufacturers note that 37% of the Ukrainian pharmacy market consists of over-the-counter drugs, most of which are purchased monthly by the same people.
“Today, vulnerable groups of citizens—the elderly, patients with chronic diseases, and residents of rural areas—were the first to feel the effects of opaque pharmacy policy. Manufacturers who reduced prices by 30% on more than 300 medicines were effectively “kicked out” of pharmacies. Their drugs disappeared from the shelves, leaving consumers with more expensive alternatives. This is not a market, this is discrimination against patients as the weakest link,” the manufacturers say.
Manufacturers insist on the adoption of the draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on the provision of marketing and other services related to the sale of medicines to end consumers, published by the Ministry of Health on May 26, 2025, which limits marketing expenses depending on whether the medicine is available without a prescription or with one.
“The adoption of this draft will return the logic of the reform to its original meaning—protecting patients, rather than balancing the business interests of pharmacies and manufacturers. The focus is not on profits, but on health,” the manufacturers emphasized.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/pharmacy/1076084.html?utm_source=telegram
