The business community is alarmed at the absence of appointments of head of the State Service for Medicinal Products and Drug Control and director general of the state expert center of the Health Ministry.

The European Business Association (EBA) said in a press release that this statement is contained in an open letter of the association to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, and Health Minister Alexander Kvitashvili.

"Today, the posts of head and director general of these two executive power agencies are vacant. Availability of high-quality, effective and safe medicines on the Ukrainian market and effective cooperation with pharmaceutical business society depend on the quality of fulfilling their functions. Open tenders to run the above-mentioned posts last for several months," EBA said in the press release.

The association said that the State Service for Medicinal Products does not fulfill the functions of the license issuer for the pharmaceutical industry at present.

"Amendments to cabinet resolution No. 609, which were supported by the working group on the deregulation of the pharmaceutical sector at the Health Ministry, must be urgently approved and enacted to resolve the problem. Only in the part concerning the renewal of licenses on imports of medicines this situation could result in blocking imports of over 100 medicines in the near term if this continues," the EBA said.

Business society believes that the absence of top managers destabilizes processes inside the agencies.

"Investors say that the effectiveness of the fulfillment of functional powers by employees of the authorized agencies is worsening and the level of responsibility of the latter for violation of the relevant procedures is falling," EBA members said.

"The association hopes that the required measures will be taken urgently and negative consequences for patients and pharmaceutical business will be prevented on time. The EBA Health Care Committee is ready to participate in the process of reforming the pharmaceutical and medical segments of the Ukrainian healthcare sector and provide the required expert support to ensure the improvements in the regulator base and availability of high-quality, effective and safe medicines and high-tech medical devices, innovative treatment within clinical trials for patients of Ukraine," reads the press release.