The Cabinet of Ministers decided to finalize the draft resolution, which provided for a ban on the operation of marketplaces and price aggregators that reserve medicines.
This is stated in the response to the petition.
This petition was initiated by the co-founder of the “Tabletki.ua” service Yevhen Muravshchik and it has collected more than 30 000 signatures, while 25 000 are required for consideration.
"Supporting the electronic petition, taking into account the public interest in the issues raised in it, I inform you that the project of the act will be finalized," says the response to the petition.
After a joint discussion of the authorities, representatives of business and public organizations, the government decided to collect proposals for changes to the rules of electronic trade in medicines.
What resolution are we talking about?
On April 18, the draft resolution "On Amendments to the Licensing Conditions for Conducting Economic Activities for the Production of Medicinal Products, Wholesale and Retail Trade of Medicinal Products, Import of Medicinal Products (except for active pharmaceutical ingredients)" appeared on the website of the State Medical Service.
The document states that the placement of offers for the sale of medicines by the consumerʼs advance order can be carried out exclusively on the website of the licensee, who has the right to carry out electronic retail trade of medicines.
In fact, this document provided for a ban on marketplaces and price aggregators that provide up-to-date information on availability, prices, and discounts for drugs in pharmacy chains.
The All-Ukrainian Council for the Protection of Patientsʼ Rights and Safety explained that marketplaces do not sell drugs, but only make reservations — the consumer comes to the chosen pharmacy, pays and receives the product there.
The main value of such platforms is finding the nearest pharmacy with the right medicine at an affordable price.
Now more than 30% of purchases in pharmacies are made with the help of marketplaces. At the same time, even the pharmacies themselves encourage online booking with discounts, the average size of which is 15%.