We received 1239 complaints about the sale of medicines at inflated prices
5 May 11:48
The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection has conducted 776 inspections in pharmacies across the country. This is reported by the press service of the agency, "Komersant Ukrainian" informs.
As a reminder, on March 1, inspections of drug prices in pharmacies were resumed. The State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection is responsible for the control.
Where did we receive the most complaints?
Over the past two months, the agency has registered a total of 1239 complaints from citizens about the sale of medicines at inflated prices.
Most complaints were received from residents of Dnipropetrovs’k, Kharkiv, Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy regions and the city of Kyiv.
How violators were punished
Based on the results of the violations, administrative and economic sanctions totaling UAH 1.8 million were imposed on unscrupulous business entities. In addition, administrative fines in the amount of UAH 163.7 thousand were imposed on officials.
The State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection also issued 78 orders to eliminate violations in the field of pricing of medicines and bring the cost of medicines in line with the law.
Who and how can complain about overpricing
The agency reminds that every citizen has the right to apply to the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection and its territorial bodies in case of detection of cases of sale of medicines at inflated prices.
To do so, the following information should be provided in the application
– the name of the business entity, its legal form (sole proprietorship, LLC, PE, etc.) and the location of the pharmacy
– a list of medicinal products for which prices are overstated;
– copies of relevant documents (checks, receipts, photos of price tags, etc.).
As noted by the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the list of medicines for which prices have been reduced is available on the official website of the Ministry of Health.
Consumers can submit an appeal to the territorial offices of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in any way: by phone, by mail or e-mail, or by filling out an electronic form.
For those who wish to use a postal or e-mail address, the following form of appeal is offered for use.
The written request must be signed by the applicant and dated.
As a reminder, on February 12, the National Security and Defense Council decided to reduce the price of medicines. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted the NSDC decision “On Additional Measures to Ensure the Availability of Medicines for Ukrainians”. The first stage of drug price reduction started on March 1. At the moment, there are 222 medicines for which prices have been reduced – the average discount is 17%.
Ukraine also has the state program “Affordable Medicines”
The Affordable Medicines reimbursement program was launched in April 2017. Its goal is to reduce the financial burden on patients and increase the availability of medicines.
Since April 1, 2019, the program has been administered by the National Health Service of Ukraine and directly reimburses pharmacies for the cost of prescription drugs dispensed to patients.
In the first three months of 2025, more than 1.6 million patients used the program, and pharmacies were paid more than UAH 1.95 billion under the reimbursement agreement, most of all for drugs for cardiovascular diseases.
According to the press service of the National Health Service, as of April 1, most reimbursements were received for drugs to treat the following diseases
cardiovascular – 985659;
prevention of heart attacks and strokes – 471122;
type II diabetes mellitus – 402794;
chronic diseases of the lower respiratory tract – 182121;
insulin free of charge or with a co-payment – 16475.
As a reminder, in April, the Government decided to expand the state reimbursement program “Affordable Medicines” on a large scale.
