Pharmacy sales in Ukraine in April 2025 decreased by 6.7% in monetary terms compared to March of this year, to UAH 16.96 billion, while in real terms they remained at 94.562 million packages, which is 0.41% more than in March.
According to information provided to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency by Business Credit, based on its research, the weighted average price of goods in the pharmacy basket at the end of April was 179.36 UAH, which is 7.1% less than in March.
At the same time, pharmacy sales of medicines in April 2025 amounted to more than UAH 13.071 billion, which is 8% less than in March. In real terms, pharmacy sales of medicines in April decreased by 2.15% compared to March, to 65.742 million packages.
The average retail price of medicines in April was 198.83 UAH per unit, which is 6.09 less than in March.
Pharmacy sales of dietary supplements in April decreased by 6.47% in monetary terms, to UAH 1.952 billion, and by almost 1.74% in real terms, to 8.368 million packages. The average price in this segment at the end of April decreased by 4.82% compared to March, to UAH 232.82 per unit.
At the same time, according to Business Credit, in April, the pharmacy segment saw price increases compared to March for dermatological cosmetics (by 11.9%), cosmetics (by 5.54%), and medical equipment (by 5.74%).
As reported, pharmacy sales in Ukraine at the end of 2024 increased in monetary terms by 10.67% compared to 2023, to UAH 192.843 billion, and in real terms decreased by 5%, to over 1.157 billion packages. The average price of goods in the pharmacy basket at the end of 2024 was UAH 166.59, which is 16.53% more than in 2023.
At the same time, pharmacy sales of medicines in 2024 amounted to UAH 151 billion, which is 10.83% more than a year earlier, but in real terms, pharmacy sales of medicines decreased by 5.64% to 810.155 million packages. The weighted average retail price of medicines at the end of 2024 was UAH 186.39 per unit, which is 17.45% more than in 2023.
Pharmacy sales of dietary supplements in 2024 increased by 11.06% in monetary terms, to UAH 19.992 billion, and decreased by almost 3.06% in real terms, to 99.012 million packages. The weighted average price in this segment at the end of 2024 increased by 14.56% compared to 2023, to UAH 201.92 per unit.
According to the Ministry of Health, as of the end of April, there has been a significant decrease in prices for medicines included in the list of the top 100 most popular medicines and in the additional list of 200 medicines. The retail prices of medicines from the additional list (over 200 Ukrainian medicines) fell by 30%.
In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted the National Security and Defense Council’s decision of February 12 on additional measures to ensure the availability of medicines for Ukrainians. According to this decision, the government, manufacturers, and pharmacy chains will determine a list of 100 drugs for which prices will be reduced by 30% starting March 1. It was also planned to ban marketing and promotional services related to the sale of medicines to end consumers from March 1 until the Cabinet of Ministers introduces separate wholesale price references for all medicines.
In January-February, Ukraine exported $33.534 million worth of dosed or packaged medicines for retail sale.
As reported by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, exports of medicines for retail sale to Lithuania amounted to $7.764 million, to Uzbekistan – $6.799 million, and to Iraq – $2.901 million.
At the same time, according to the State Medical Service, imports of packaged/dosed medicines for retail trade amounted to $312.316 million during the same period.
In particular, in January-February, Ukraine imported $60.618 million worth of medicines for retail sale from Germany, $26.157 million from India, and $24.284 million from Turkey.
Since the beginning of 2024, medicines produced in India have accounted for 8.3% of the total volume of medicines imported to Ukraine.
The State Service for Medicinal Products and Drug Control (Goslexluzhba) informed Interfax-Ukraine that since the beginning of 2024, 3213 series (32824807 packages) from 65 Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers have been submitted for state quality control, which makes up 8.3% of the total volume of medicines imported to Ukraine.
At the same time during 2022-2023 10924 series of medicinal products manufactured in India were submitted for state quality control, including 4715 in 2022 and 6209 in 2023, which is 54705914 and 51309132 packages respectively.
In addition, the State Service of Medicinal Products with reference to the data of the State Register of Medicinal Products reported that since the beginning of 2024 Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers have registered in Ukraine a little more than 100 drugs (excluding active pharmaceutical ingredients, API – IF-U), currently in Ukraine are registered 1999 drugs manufactured in India, in 2023 in Ukraine were registered 1895 Indian drugs, in 2022 – 1709, in 2021 – 1472, in 2020 – 1165.
Thus, the dynamics of registration of Indian medicinal products in Ukraine over the last five years is slowing down: if the number of registered medicinal products manufactured in India in 2021 was 26.2% higher than a year earlier, then at the end of 2023 – only by 10.9%.
Doctors and pharmaceutical manufacturers demand to strengthen the fight against illegitimate advertising of fake medicines on the Internet using well-known brands and faces of leading experts in the medical industry.
As Doctor of Medical Sciences, Director of the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health Borys Todurov emphasized at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday, fraudulent advertising on the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market can claim hundreds and thousands of lives. As an example of this, he cited the fact that, in particular, fake drugs are often advertised on the Internet in his name.
“On the Internet, on Facebook, drugs are offered in my name that we allegedly develop. Don’t believe that this is so – we do not take part in the development of new drugs. We perform operations, we only engage in surgery,” he said.
Todurov noted that every day he responds to many messages regarding fake drugs that he is allegedly developing, and there are “dozens” of such drugs. One of the latest such fake drugs that is sold online in his name is Normocardis.
Todurov noted that he had already contacted law enforcement agencies with statements about precedents, and that the cyber police had already opened a criminal case into the use of his name and the names of his colleagues.
“It is very difficult to track such scammers, they are often located abroad. But I think that it is possible to find and catch at least those people who distribute fake drugs in Ukraine – they have telephone numbers, a specific address, they can be tracked,” the director of the Heart Institute said.
Todurov noted that advertisements for fake drugs are often created using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which make it possible to create believable videos using the images and voices of specific famous doctors.
In turn, Honored Doctor of Ukraine, director and founder of the medical center Clinic of Dr. Valikhnovsky Rostyslav Valikhnovsky said that on his behalf there were recorded cases of distribution of at least eight drugs and dietary supplements that supposedly treat joints, varicose veins, heart, and rheumatic diseases.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with reality. I want to put it on record that this is not true and our brand has nothing to do with these drugs,” he said.
Valikhnovsky noted that the clinic also contacted the cyber police in Kyiv, and law enforcement agencies managed to block sites that posted such information in one day. However, he noted that it was not possible to solve this problem with Facebook.
“With Facebook it is very difficult to solve this problem during the war, so with this press conference I would like to appeal to the Minister of the Interior, the Prosecutor General, so that they take this problem under personal control,” he said.
Valikhnovsky noted that “if nothing is done now at the beginning of the development of AI, then later we will not be able to correct anything.”
At the same time, he emphasized that clinics and doctors without law enforcement agencies cannot independently identify fraudsters and fight them.
For his part, head of the Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of Ukraine Petro Bahriy clarified that in war conditions it is quite difficult to estimate the volume of the market for such fake drugs, including due to the ban on inspections.
“We cannot accurately estimate the volume of such a market, especially during the war. But we are interested in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market being transparent, so that the promotion of medicines is legal, because we know about the responsibility for people’s health,” he said.
Bahriy noted that the Association was one of the initiators of introducing criminal liability for false advertising and the production and distribution of fake drugs.
“I support my colleagues and appeal to law enforcement agencies and everyone who can help overcome this shameful phenomenon and stop these scammers who today, using well-known brands of doctors, promote in their name fake drugs that harm health and even kill,” he said.
Bahriy also emphasized that leading domestic pharmaceutical companies are constantly developing R&D, developing new drugs according to international standards of evidence-based effectiveness, safety and quality, investing significant funds in this area.
“Fake drugs sold online in this way harm people’s health, but also harm the economy, because fraudsters, unlike pharmaceutical manufacturers, do not pay taxes, do not create jobs, and do not invest in the development of their brand and the country’s economy. The business of these scammers harms everyone, and law enforcement officials must solve this problem,” he concluded.
ADVERTISING, BAHRIY, BRAND, DOCTORS, FAKE, MEDICINES, PHARMACISTS, Valikhnovsky, Тодуров
At the 17th meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (Ramstein), Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles reported on the recent shipment of aid to Ukraine, including medicines and surgical instruments.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense, Robles informed about the recent shipment of 15 pallets of medicines and surgical instruments to Ukraine, which will ensure the operation of the field hospital transferred by Spain a few months ago.
“The minister also reported on the cooperation of Spanish industry in supplying equipment and ammunition to Ukraine and spoke in detail about the program to support the reception of families of Ukrainian soldiers killed in action in military recreation centers on the Spanish coast,” the statement said.
Robles noted good progress in the training of the Ukrainian military in Spain, where more than 3,000 servicemen have been trained to date. She added that it is planned to teach training courses on the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law for representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The state-owned enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine (MPU) has delivered to hospitals 94% of the medical products purchased in 2022 for a total of UAH 5.1 billion.
According to the press release of the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine, more than 98% of the medical supplies procured in 2022 have been delivered to the warehouse of the state-owned enterprise.
“We deliver medicines almost every day, so we are able to quickly meet the needs of healthcare facilities when they arise,” the Ministry of Health clarified.
In addition, the Ministry of Health continues to deliver goods procured for the 2023 budget. So far, the goods purchased for the 2023 budget have been delivered to hospitals in the amount of over UAH 1.4 billion.
