Medication imports from Turkey have reduced prices by 60-80%, PM says
Products such as cardiovascular medications had decreased from 220 GEL (about $68/€61) to 48 GEL ($14/€13), Garibashvili pointed out among examples. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Tweet 
Share
General prices for medicines on the Georgian local market have been reduced by 60-80 percent following the import of medications from Turkey, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said earlier today.
The Government head said the import of medical drugs from Turkish-based producers, an initiative aimed at effecting a reduction of costs locally, had forced down prices for the most in-demand medicines.
Products such as cardiovascular medications had decreased from 220 GEL (about $68/€61) to 48 GEL (about $14/€13), Garibashvili pointed out among examples.
The PM also said dozens of types of medicines had been submitted to the country’s Health Ministry for registration, saying “this process will be accelerated very soon in order to [...] give the population a choice to buy cheaper medicines.”
He also stressed the importance of the quality of the imported medications, noting all the products imported from Turkey were produced using the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standard.
The Government Administration quoted Garibashvili on thanking Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili for his efforts in the initiative. The Prime Minister said Azarashvili was due to travel to Turkey on Monday to meet with his counterpart for further work on the matter.
Garibashvili announced the initiative of his team to ensure a reduction of general prices of pharmaceuticals for citizens at the end of last year, citing the considerable gap between the cost of the drugs produced using GMP on the Turkish market and in Georgia.
The Russian authorities’ approval of importation of Georgian dairy relates to an application by Georgian private companies dating back to 2020, Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, said on Monday.
The government’s initiative of ensuring importation of pharmacy drugs from Turkey to effect a general reduction of medicine prices in Georgia is set to commence in the coming weeks, with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili also revealing additional means to strengthen competition on the market.
Strategic partnership between Georgia and Turkey, including a readiness to deepen political and economic cooperation, was discussed by Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili and Turkish ambassador to Georgia Fatma Ceren Yazgan in a meeting on Thursday.
Georgia will import high-quality medicines from Turkey to effect a “significant” reduction of the cost of drugs on the Georgian market, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said in a government session on Monday.
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili spoke at length about his cabinet’s plan to launch new social programmes to address unemployment and the cost of medications in the country during an interview on TV channel Imedi.
Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili and his Turkish counterpart Fahrettin Koca have agreed on an “even closer” cooperation between the countries in the field of medical services and pharmaceuticals, the Georgian Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Import of medications from the Turkish market has “significantly” decreased the prices of “dozens” of medical products in Georgia, Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Saturday.
General paediatricians in Georgia will be able to only prescribe generic medications to their patients, without specifying a brand of the drug, starting next month, Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Sunday.
About 200 types of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-standard drugs, imported from Turkey, will be available on the Georgian market in about a month, Deputy Health Minister Ilia Gudushauri said on Monday.
The prices of about 200 of the most sought-after medicinal drugs on the local market have decreased by 60-70 percent since the launch of the Government initiative to import medications from Turkey, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili visited a Tbilisi pharmacy on Thursday to inspect the effects of the recent Government initiatives on reducing prices on the Georgian market by importing drugs from Turkey and launching a new prescription system.
Georgian citizens have saved up to ₾43 million ($14.7m/€13.9m) on medicines since the opening of the Turkish pharmaceutical market and the import of medications from the country, the Georgian Economy Ministry announced on Thursday.
Georgian citizens have saved ₾51 million ($17 mln/€16.6mln) since the beginning of imports of affordable medicines from the Turkish market that has caused a reduction of domestic prices, Georgia’s Deputy Health Minister Ilia Ghudushauri said on Sunday.
Priorities of bilateral relations between Georgia and Turkey and the prospects of future cooperation were discussed on Monday in a meeting between the newly appointed Turkish Ambassador to Georgia, Ali Kaan Orbai, and the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Lasha Darsalia.
Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili on Friday said Georgia had imported medications worth ₾6.4 million ($2 mln) from Türkiye in August, marking a “record-high figure” since Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s initiation in January of the project on importing medical drugs from the country to ensure competitive prices on the domestic market.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said medicine prices would be reduced by 40 percent in 2023 owing to setting the reference prices. In his annual report on the Government work, Garibashvili highlighted the significance of opening the Turkish market, as a result of which the prices of medicines decreased by 60-80 percent in the country.
The Georgian Health Ministry on Friday said the prices of Turkish-imported medicines would not increase, adding Georgian companies would still be able to purchase them at lower prices on the Turkish pharmaceutical market and import them to Georgia, on the backdrop of increased prices in Turkey.
The Regulation Agency for Medical and Pharmaceutical Activities of the Georgian Health Ministry has started inspection of the Good Manufacturing Practices at foreign enterprises whose medicines are imported in Georgia, the state body said on Tuesday.
The Georgian Health Ministry has signed a deal with the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Pharma on Wednesday to purchase “innovative” oncological medicines at discount prices and ensure “full financing” of treatment for oncology patients in the country, the state body said.