First, the market is recovering, and the industry is gaining momentum in the second year of the major war. Thus, sales of medicines in the first half of 2023 increased by 23% in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2022. Since March, sales have been growing monthly by almost a quarter compared to last year. The recovery of the market, among other things, was facilitated by the increase in the number of operating pharmacies, which became possible due to relative stabilization of the security situation in most regions of the country. During the first half of 2023, 336 operating pharmacies were added in the country.
Secondly, according to the results of the first half of 2023, 63.4% of medicines on the market are of Ukrainian origin. Since Ukrainian medicines are mostly cheaper than foreign ones, their share in monetary terms is 37.0%, while in kind, it is 63.4%. Increasing the share of Ukrainian medicines on the market is a strategic task for the country, because it ensures the availability of medicines in times of crisis. Today, 7 of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies in terms of sales are Ukrainian.
Thirdly, Ukraine continues to actively export medicines. In 2022, Ukrainian pharmaceutical companies stopped exporting medicines to the rf and the rb, once one of the largest export markets. Despite this, the companies managed to enter new markets and increase exports in 2023. Thus, in the first half of 2023, Ukraine exported the most medicines to Uzbekistan (USD 22.3 million), Lithuania (USD 14.7 million), Kazakhstan (USD 13.0 million), and Georgia (USD 12.6 million).
‘Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe. Our pharmaceutical industry has always been powerful. Today, it plays a leading role in the structure of the country’s economy. Although the full-scale war has become a serious challenge for the pharmaceutical industry, the results of the first half of 2023 by many indicators indicate that we are successfully overcoming this challenge, undergoing the necessary transformations for further recovery and growth’, says Serhii Kolchyk, Head of the Analytical Department at Pharmaceutical Company ‘Darnytsia’.
