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What Will Happen To Prices For Medications In Belarus After February 1

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What Will Happen To Prices For Medications In Belarus After February 1

Refill your first aid kit in January.

Since February, due to the increase in the VAT rate, almost all medicines and medical devices may rise in price. Pharmacies recommend buying the necessary medications in January, before the price increases, writes Vecherniy Grodno.

From January 1 on medicines and medical products (including prosthetic and orthopedic ones) imported into Belarus, the VAT rate is 10%. Previously, medicines and certain items of medical devices were exempt from VAT.

In addition, the VAT rate for some children's goods in the pharmacy range will be increased from 10 to 20%.

The import VAT rate of 20% is set for raw materials, materials and components for the manufacture of drugs and medical devices (including prosthetic and orthopedic), as well as for semi-finished products for drugs and medical goods.

The journalists decided to figure out what this means for buyers, how the prices for medications will change, and how much time they have left to buy the necessary medicines at the old prices.

- From February 1, when forming prices for medicines and medical products imported into Belarus (their categories are specified in the Law "On Amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus"), pharmacy chains will take into account VAT, that is, 10%, - said the press secretary of LLC Holding Managing Company "Apteka Group" Yulia Shpak.

Whether the price of Belarusian medicines rises will depend on the supplier or manufacturer. Taking into account that the VAT on raw materials and components imported into Belarus for the manufacture of drugs rises to 20%, most likely, medicines and medical products that are produced on the basis of imported raw materials and components will also rise in price.

So far, many pharmacy chains do not plan to redo the price tags for old batches of drugs, and are ready to sell them without VAT until February.

- According to the law, retail pharmacy chains can sell old consignments of goods purchased before January 1 during a month, without including the VAT rate in the price. New goods delivered after January 1 of this year will be sold with VAT. The remains of the old batches in our pharmacy network, as we assume, will be sold during January, and the prices for the new batch will be brought in line with the provisions of the updated Tax Code from February 1, - added Yulia Shpak.

As for whether some medications, which for various reasons may become less demanded by buyers, will disappear, this is unlikely to happen, they say in pharmacy chains. They work strictly in the legislative field. First, Decree #366 restricts the use of wholesale and retail markups on a regressive scale: the higher the selling price, the lower the markup should be. Secondly, there is a list of medications that are required in pharmacies. The new list of 102-140 medicines was approved by the Decree of the Ministry of Health # 106 of November 18, 2020.

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