Tabletki.ua will not be transferred to Kyivstar: what is wrong with the application
9 April 16:47
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has returned Kyivstar’s application for the acquisition of Tabletki.ua, an online service for searching and booking medicines, for the second time. This was reported by Forbes Ukraine with reference to the response received to the request, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
This is the second attempt by the telecom operator to obtain a merger clearance – the first application was rejected by the AMCU in November 2024 due to non-compliance with the established requirements.
The decision has both economic and political significance, as it is not just a merger of two business structures, but also the impact of a large telecom operator on the pharmaceutical market, in particular on the availability, pricing and transparency of information about medicines.
Kyivstar’s first application, filed in the fall of 2024, did not meet the requirements of the AMC’s Regulation on the consideration of merger cases. The application did not provide complete information on the structure of the transaction, mechanisms of control over the target and the impact on related markets, including the distribution of medicines and the processing of personal data. The repeated application, submitted on February 14, 2025, was also insufficiently substantiated and violated a number of procedural requirements, in particular, regarding the analysis of competition and forecasting the impact of the merger on the consumer.
Tabletki.ua is one of the most popular platforms in Ukraine for searching for medicines by name or active ingredient, comparing prices in different pharmacies and placing pre-orders. It is used by hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians every day to obtain objective information about the availability and cost of medicines. The acquisition of such a resource by a telecom company could open up new channels for commercializing medical data or generating consumer demand, which is what the regulator is concerned about.
It is worth noting that Kyivstar’s interest in the pharmaceutical market is not accidental. As part of its digital transformation strategy, the company is actively investing in services that go beyond the classic telecom sector. The purchase of 97% of Uklon’s corporate rights in March 2025 for $155.2 million confirms the operator’s interest in creating a multiservice digital ecosystem, from communications to logistics and medical services.
However, in the case of Tabletki.ua, the situation looks more complicated. First, it is a market with a sensitive social component, where information transparency and competition are of paramount importance. Secondly, the merger of a telecom giant with a platform that accumulates large amounts of data on the demand for medicines may create new challenges in the field of cybersecurity and personal information protection.
Experts suggest that the AMCU may require additional guarantees from Kyivstar, including maintaining the independence of Tabletki.ua’s editorial policy, preventing bias in favor of specific pharmaceutical manufacturers or pharmacy chains, and clearly delineating databases.
As of today, the agreement has not been canceled, but its implementation has been postponed. According to market sources, Kyivstar plans to submit a third, revised application to meet the AMCU’s requirements. At the same time, the very fact of the regulator’s double refusal indicates that the standards of transparency and accountability in Ukrainian M&A practice are increasing. The successful completion of this procedure can serve as an example of a high-quality dialog between big business and the regulator, as well as a marker of the country’s digital economy maturity.
Read also: Uklon takes over Kyivstar: details of the $155 million deal
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