Marketing agreements between manufacturers and pharmacy chains raise the cost of medicines in retail by about 50%, chairman of the board of public organization All-Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Chamber Oleh Klimov believes.

"The cost of drugs in pharmacies is overstated on average by 50% due to marketing agreements and other requirements of pharmacy chain owners to suppliers and manufacturers of medicines and other goods sold in pharmacies," he told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on draft law No. 8591 on amending the law on medicines regarding the provision of economic competition and protection of patients' rights in retail trade in medicines.

He also supported the norm, stipulated in the bill, according to which the distance between drugstores should be at least 500 meters.

"The unsystematic opening of new pharmacies on the principle "door to door" led to the closure and bankruptcy of a large number of pharmacy institutions that did not have the possibility of "financial pressure" on suppliers and manufacturers of drugs," Klimov said.

He also drew attention to the importance of complying with the requirements of rules for the sale of prescription drugs.

"Complete disregard for these requirements entails a catastrophic level of self-treatment in Ukraine, i.e. to the ineffectiveness of treatment, the transformation of a significant number of Ukrainians into chronically incurable patients," he said.