Britain's Crown Agents has procured 10,500 stent systems for reperfusion center chain using the 2016 national budget funds, Deputy Health Minister Oleksandr Linchevsky has said.

"About 7,000 stents were procured using the 2015 budget funds. Crown Agents procured 10,500 stents of much better quality at a price two times lower, using the 2016 budget funds. The saved funds will allow purchasing more stents," he said at a press conference on Thursday.

Linchevsky said that these stents will be used, in particular, in the reperfusion centers chain that is being created.

"We are creating a network of institutions. We are purchasing stents and expendable materials. A new formula for distributing these stents will make coronarography available to every Ukrainian and do it for free," he said.

In turn, the representative of Crown Agents in Ukraine Tetiana Korotchenko said that under the stent purchase program the agency is in the active stage of delivery, and the first batch of stents has already been distributed among the regions.

According to Korotchenko, Crown Agents saved about 50% of the budget, so the cost of the stent system was $70-150.

"We noted that this is a highly competitive market. 18 bids from 11 countries were submitted for the tender," she said.