Kyrgyzstan plans to begin purchasing medicines directly from Russian manufacturing plants in the near future. The Minister of Health, Alymkadyr Beishenaliev, told reporters.
«Our specialists have already traveled to Russian factories to hold negotiations. For this purpose I am going to Novosibirsk on February 14, after which in Moscow I will meet with representatives of pharmaceutical companies and plant directors. We will discuss issues of bilateral cooperation with them,» he said.
According to him, Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko came to the republic in November 2023, with whom the issue of medicines supplies was discussed in detail.
«We will purchase medicines from the factories that produce them. The Minister of Health of the Russian Federation gave me a list of medicines that are produced in Russia,» Alymkadyr Beishenaliev added.
The official explained that the republic intends to purchase drugs in connection with the creation of Kyrgyzfarmatsiya state enterprise, which manages the network of state pharmacies.
As the head of the Ministry of Health explained, when creating Kyrgyzfarmatsiya, the state did not set a goal to make money by opening a network of state pharmacies. «We only add 5 percent to the manufacturer’s price because we have to pay salaries and other related expenses. At the same time, private pharmacies add 25-30 percent, and sometimes 50 percent, to the cost of medicines,» he explained.
According to the Minister of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, for 30 years, private pharmaceutical companies of the republic independently regulated prices on the market. As a result, using the funds allocated by the state for hospitals to treat patients, medicines were purchased at inflated prices, and «drugs needed in small quantities» were not delivered to private companies at all, although «there is a need for them.» «Taking into account all these disadvantages, Kyrgyzfarmatsiya enterprise was created so that medicines were purchased from manufacturers and their prices automatically became 25-30 percent lower,» the official said.
