Domestic producers of medicines not protected

Azerbaijan’s medicinal market is saturated with medicines imported into the country by some 20 companies, board chairman of the “AzPharm” pharmaceuticals firm Tahir Suleymanov told AssA-Irada Saturday.

According to him, the firms import around 100 denominations of medicines that are also produced domestically in accordance with international standards, which undoubtedly hurts domestic producers.

This leads to the accumulation of locally manufactured drugs, he said. T. Suleymanov thinks the government has to apply a customs tax on all imported medicines in order to protect domestic manufacturers.

Two companies currently produce medicines in Azerbaijan; “AzerSinthesis” and “AzPharm”, a joint Azeri-Turkish-Iranian-Russian venture.*