Rumas: Belarus’ pharmaceutical sector will not be hurt by EEU common drugs market

Belarus’ pharmaceutical sector will not be hurt by the common drugs market envisaged in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Chairman of the Development Bank of Belarus, member of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission Sergei Rumas said at the meeting of the House of Representatives’ permanent commission on international affairs on 3 October, BelTA has learned.

When asked by MP Anna Levitskaya on possible threats that the development of the common market of pharmaceutical products can pose to Belarus, Sergei Rumas stressed that the development of any common market brings both advantages and negative effects in the form of tougher competition. “The Healthcare Ministry assured us that there are no big threats to our market. Being guided by this assurance, we made everything possible to come closer to the common market in this sector and we expect it to be introduced on 1 January 2016,” he stressed.

Sergei Rumas added that Belarus was the main supporter of the common market of pharmaceutical products. In his words, the Deputy Healthcare Minister of Belarus that supervised the matter took an active part in making the common market operational as soon as possible. The original date was 2025.

Asked by MP Lyudmila Dobrynina on the financial market in the EEU, Sergei Rumas stated that this is one of the issues where “we have decided not to expedite things”. “Belarus supported the proposals of the financial market regulators of the member states that it is possible, taking into account the different level of legislation, the different state of financial markets, not before 2025,” he said.

According to the member of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the parties agreed to take a step-by-step approach in this direction. It is the financial area that can bear certain risks for Belarus. It is related, first of all, to the arrival of bigger players from Russia and Kazakhstan with a more powerful financial potential to the banking insurance market.