Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has ordered to settle the issue of licensing imported medicines and guarantee the availability of both domestic and foreign medicines in pharmacies.

These issues were discussed at a meeting with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko, the leadership of the Health Ministry, the State Service of Ukraine for Medicines and the secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers, the information and communication Department of the secretariat reported on Saturday.

The premier ordered to develop all the necessary legislative acts, which would contain well-defined conditions and rules for the procedure of licensing of imported medicines, so that the Cabinet could adopt them by February 13.

The Health Ministry officials, in turn, told the prime minister that the licensing conditions had been developed and were ready for signing. They fully comply with European requirements for licensing imports.

At the same time, they decided to introduce these requirements gradually until the end of 2013. During the first stage, the licensing conditions will be very simple, the procedure for issuing licenses will be as simple as possible, and from March 1, 2013, importers will receive it. So, there should be no problems with the availability of medicines.