Pharma retailers predict a correction: there are already more pharmacies than grocery stores

Ukraine is experiencing rapid development of pharmacy retail. However, the industry is expected to decline in the near future. This is the opinion of Andriy Zhuk, co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the Retailers Association of Ukraine (RAU) expressed in an interview with The Page.

"We are currently experiencing great growth in the pharmacy industry. There are several leaders. For example, Podorozhnyk has opened plus 957, and Apteka Low Prices has opened 459 new pharmacies [since the start of the full-scale invasion]. There are now more pharmacies than grocery stores, and we need to figure it out," he said.

According to the head of the RAU, the expansion of pharmacy chains is a thing of the past. In the near future, "we will see the consolidation of some companies, some deals may be made in the pharmaceutical market. And, in particular, someone will close down."

"The chains were growing significantly, opening many outlets, and it was a kind of competition. And now they will close them because they are unprofitable. [...] There is a situation in life where unprofitable outlets will be closed, and those that are needed will remain. The economy will put everything in its place," he said.

This will happen, among other things, due to government regulation, which has now affected pharmacy retail.

"Therefore, I am sure we will see a reduction in pharmacies in Ukraine," said Andriy Zhuk.

Pros data according to MORION, the number of small pharmacies in Ukraine decreased by 134 from March to June 2025 alone. The reason for the closure was the ban on providing marketing services to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

• In March 2025, the government launched a large-scale reform of the pharmaceutical market. The Cabinet of Ministers regulated margins for medicines, banned the practice of marketing payments and restored price checks in pharmacy chains.
• Since April, Ukraine has been implementing the final stage of the reform of state regulation of the cost of medicines - the declaration of producer prices, which will be tied to the lower level in Europe.
• In May pharmacy associations and manufacturers of medicines criticized the new version of the Ministry of Health's resolution on marketing services in the pharmaceutical market.
• In July, the government established quotas for the supply of medicines to combat market monopolization.