Georgian Prime Minister holds meeting with pharmaceutical firms on price issues

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday met with representatives of 25 pharmaceutical companies to discuss the high cost of medications and non-medical products in local pharmacies.

During a meeting of the Government Coordination Commission on Food Prices, the PM emphasised that while business freedom is a priority, the Government must intervene when social welfare is at stake.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze noted that the issue of medicine and pharmacy prices remains highly relevant for the public, and therefore it is a priority for the Government to discuss with sector representatives whether there is room for reducing prices.

“As for pharmacy chains, we have already gone through one process in 2022, when reference prices were set and this gave us results in many directions for specific medicines, prices for specific groups of medicines have actually decreased. We would also like to discuss how much space there is for expanding this list. Also, other products are sold in pharmacy chains, where we have seen that the difference in prices is quite large. If we take European prices, in many cases there is a 35-40 percent difference with European countries, including Great Britain, France, etc. It is also interesting to see to what extent these high prices are based on the logical supply chain”, the PM said.

“It is about business, business is free and should be free, and pricing should essentially be carried out in accordance with free market principles, although in the case of pharmacies, a social component also enters, which worries us. As the Government, we are responsible for ensuring that the social interests of our citizens are protected to the maximum extent possible, and if there is room for improvement, we should take care of it to the maximum extent possible. This is what our initiative in all areas, including pharmacies, is based on”, he concluded.

The meeting with representatives of pharmaceutical companies was held in a discussion mode.

This week, a meeting will also be held in the format of the Government Coordination Commission regarding fuel prices.