The Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition (APDC) has identified the reasons for rising prices in the wholesale drug market.
According to the agency, the price increase is due to imperfections in the regulations of the Ministry of Health and deficiencies in the work of subordinate organisations.
"For instance, the current methodology for setting maximum prices allows for the artificial inflation of prices for generic medicines. Meanwhile, in international practice, such drugs are 30 per cent or more cheaper," the statement reads.
The APDC has discovered serious shortcomings in the work of the RSE "National Centre for Expertise of Medicines and Medical Devices". It is reported that the enterprise conducts a superficial comparison of drug prices in neighbouring countries, relying only on data provided by applicants.
At the same time, the agency noted that the lack of transparency in medicine supplies and the low focus of LLP "SK-Pharmacy" on direct purchases from manufacturers lead to budget overspending.
"Furthermore, there is a risk that LLP 'SK-Pharmacy' has no interest in price competition, as its profit is formed from a markup of 5% to 7% on the cost of purchased medicines. It follows that the higher the cost of the drug, the greater the profit for the Single Distributor," the statement reads.
It is reported that the Agency has recommended to the Ministry of Health that measures be taken to prevent the unjustified increase in drug prices.
In response, the press service of LLP "SK-Pharmacy" commented on the APDC's statement. The company reported that, to ensure the timely purchase of pharmaceutical products, the partnership had submitted proposals to change the procurement procedure from domestic and foreign manufacturers.
It has become known that the Ministry of Health has revised previous standards taking into account the proposals submitted by "SK-Pharmacy" and has approved new rules for organising and conducting the procurement of medicines and medical devices.
"Now, if there are no bids or only one bid from a potential supplier, the procurement is deemed unsuccessful. Following this, invitations are sent directly to manufacturers of medicines or medical devices," the statement reads.
Furthermore, it is noted that procurements are conducted electronically through the portal of JSC "Centre for Electronic Finance", which should eliminate the human factor when selecting a supplier.
"SK-Pharmacy carries out procurement through international UN organisations (UNDP, UNICEF, STOP TB), thanks to which medicines are purchased at a reduced price (due to the consolidated international volume of procurement), which allows for an increase in patient coverage," the company's press service concluded.