Ministry of Health: Improved mechanism for declaring prices of non-prescription medicines not included in the national list

The Cabinet of Ministers has amended the Procedure for Referencing Prices of Medicines and the Procedure for Declaring Prices in the National Catalogue. These changes aim to regulate the declaration of prices for non-prescription medicines not included in the National List of Essential Medicines.

A prior analysis by the State Expert Centre of the Ministry of Health revealed that, for most non-prescription medicines not included in the National List, there is insufficient data on prices in reference countries, making it impossible to determine maximum reference prices for this category of medicines.

The requirement to calculate maximum reference prices for such medicines has now been abolished. All non-prescription medicines not included in the National List will now be subject to price declaration in the National Catalogue without the need for approval of a separate list by the Ministry of Health.

These changes will enable manufacturers and importers to follow clear and efficient price declaration rules, ensuring consumers have uninterrupted access to necessary medicines.

As a reminder, Ukraine is undergoing a pharmaceutical sector reform aimed at stabilising and reducing medicine prices. A key tool is the National Catalogue of Medicine Prices, a register of maximum wholesale-release prices set by manufacturers or importers. Manufacturers and importers are required to declare maximum wholesale-release prices in the National Catalogue, which helps prevent unjustified price increases and ensures transparency in medicine procurement. In parallel, a price referencing system is in place, based on comparing prices with markets in eight European countries – Poland, Czechia, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, and Bulgaria. The Catalogue currently includes over 5,800 items.