The Verkhovna Rada adopted as a basis the draft law No. 7313, which provides for the refusal of state registration for medicines if it is established that one or more stages of production were carried out by enterprises located in Russia and Belarus.

The authors of the document believe that such a step by Ukraine will become a model for other countries and international companies that continue to do business with blood in Russia and Belarus.

The draft law also grants the Cabinet of Ministers the right to temporarily suspend the export of medicines if the needs of the Ukrainian healthcare system for such medicines are not met in full.

The Institute of Legislative Ideas analysed the draft law and found a number of risks:

• The draft law gives the Ministry of Health the authority to determine at its own discretion which medicinal products may or may not be subject to state registration.
• The draft law explicitly provides for the right of the Ministry of Health to make a decision at its own discretion to terminate the registration certificate for all medicines or for certain items of medicines of the applicant for the registration certificate, which, for example, sold pharmaceutical ingredients necessary for the production of medicines to residents of the aggressor state during the war in Ukraine.

All this creates a wide field for abuse and the possibility of taking bribes for issuing such certificates.

The Institute of Legislative Ideas recommends that these shortcomings be corrected before the second reading.

Read more in our opinion.