The Ukrainian government intends to stimulate the domestic production of medicines, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said.

"In the coming years, the government will take the line of stimulating the production of essential drugs in Ukraine," he said at a meeting with major domestic distributors of medicines in Kyiv on Tuesday.

According to him, relevant activities are envisaged in the state economic stimulation program.

Azarov said that imported drugs currently account for 80% of the Ukrainian market and domestic ones only for 20%.

"We want to change this percentage," he said.

In addition, the prime minister said that the government wants the prices of medicine on the domestic market to meet the European ones, as an analysis shows that prices in Ukraine are much higher.

The prime minister suggested that the prices might be influenced by intermediaries, who often invent different schemes to justify over-pricing.

"For instance, who would ship medicines from Belarus through New Zealand?" Azarov said.