KYIV. Nov 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has determined corruption risks that may arise due to limiting the circulation of medicines in wartime, patients and experts warn that the uncertain criteria for the approach to restricting the circulation of Russian and Belarusian drugs create risks of artificially redistribution of the pharmaceutical market, participants of a press conference hosted by the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency on Friday said.

According to NACP Head Serhiy Derkach, the corruption risks identified by the agency include, in particular, lobbying for the interests of certain companies due to the presence of a conflict of interest among members of the commission of the Health Ministry of Ukraine, which makes decisions on the ban of the circulation of drugs, an unreasonable approach to the selection of pharmaceutical companies to stop the circulation of their medicines, manipulation of criteria for stopping the validity of the registration certificate for the elimination of a pharmaceutical company from the market, as well as falsification of data on the readiness to meet the country's needs for a particular drug, the lack of a specific procedure for renewing the registration certificate, the closed procedure for stopping the circulation of a medicinal product and non-transparency of involving professional associations, institutions and organizations in commission membership and decision-making.

"With this study, we made recommendations for the procedure to be transparent. Corruption, obtaining unjustified benefits for lobbying certain interests of pharmaceutical companies or making decisions regarding individual pharmaceutical companies, abuse when renewing a registration certificate and falsifying the possibility of providing 100% of patients' needs are possible," he said.

According to Derkach, "it is not clear on what criteria the company was expelled. Currently the process allows for abuse even if the company's ability to be on the market is excluded."

In turn, Executive Director of the Patients of Ukraine Foundation Inna Ivanenko said that the commission of the Health Ministry of Health, which makes decisions on banning the circulation of drugs, has already made decisions to ban the circulation of 35 drugs manufactured by a European company, two more companies are currently under consideration.

According to Ivanenko, the decision to withdraw the drug from the market is influenced by Deputy Head of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Solovyov.

"Back in April 2022, Solovyov sent a letter to Ukrainian distributors with a request to stop cooperation with certain companies, a list of 13 companies was brought up and now the Health Ministry sticks to this list, throws the drugs of these companies from the market," she said.

"In order to stop this catastrophe, we need to amend the legislation as soon as possible so that drugs made in Russia and Belarus, and not Europe, leave the Ukrainian market," she said.