In March 2015 Ukraine beganallowing state procurement of certain medicines and medical devices to be conductedvia international organizations such as WHO, UNICEF, and a number of otherhighly reputable institutions. This is anticipated to dramatically reducecorruption in medicine procurement and thus should lead to a decrease of thevalue of certain medicines and devices for Ukrainian patients.
Following such promisingchanges, Ukraine has recently adopted the Law No. 332 as of 9 April 2015 whichestablished a temporary exemption from 7% VAT and 5% additional import duty toapply to the following transactions:
1. import of medicines andmedical devices on the customs territory of Ukraine and first supply of suchmedicines and devices;
2. first supply of medicinesby Ukrainian producers of medicines and medical devices; and
3. supply (transfer) ofmedicines and medical devices to final consumers (patients).
The above exemption appliessolely when medicines and medical devices are imported and/or supplied on thebasis of agreements with qualified international procurement agencies and shallapply until March 31, 2019.
The Law came into force on 7 May 2015, however, the exemptioncannot be currently be applied until a Regulation is issued by the Cabinet ofMinisters of Ukraine to establish the list of medicines and medical devicesallowed for state procurement via international agencies.
Authors:
Olexander Martinenko, Senior Partner, olexander.martinenko@cms-cmck.com