Georgia has opened its pharmaceutical market to Turkey, which will lower the prices of medicines, announced Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili at today’s Cabinet meeting.

“As you know, I have openly discussed this issue in the past. There is a considerable price difference. If the most demanded pharmaceutical drugs cost, let’s say hypothetically, 10 GEL, they priced at 1-2 GEL in Turkey, the reason why there can no arguments against opening up to the Turkish market. I have not heard one. Consequently, we have decided to open up the Turkish market, this decision coming into force today, and I hope that importers, relevant companies will import high-quality medications from Turkey, a step promising to reduce medication prices in Georgia significantly and fast,” the Head of Government said.

At the same time, the Competition Agency has finalized a pharmaceutical market study, with monitoring carried out and recommendations provided to the Parliament and the Government.

“Most importantly, our main task should be monitoring medications prices, on one hand-I would not say regulation at this point-and quality control, on the other, and that is a must. Our population must be provided with quality pharmaceutical drugs, and that is our #1 request. We are launching active work, and Minister Zurab Azarashvili will start working on this issue to deliver results in a matter of weeks,” the Prime Minister emphasized.