the medical sector is currently under the reforming process where big changes have been announced by the government, some of which will be affecting the business sector as well by changing some of the rules of the game on the market. However, the hottest topic on the table today is to make medicine cheaper for Georgia’s consumers and one of the ways to do that is expected to be the opening of Turkey’s market for Georgia’s importers. Let us see what one of the distinguished players of the Georgian pharma market - Pharmadepo has to say. Giorgi Isakadze interviewed the CEO Ketevan Kozmanashvili for CheckPoints.
Giorgi: Pharmadepo was the first in its industry to respond to the war in Ukraine. Our thoughts are with Ukraine right now. Tell us a few words about what you did in this regard, how did you do it, and do you plan to make it a permanent thing as the war continues, which will hopefully be over soon.
Katie: Seeing what was happening in Ukraine was extremely overwhelming. All of us had this inner urge to help and be as productive as possible. Therefore, on the second day of the war, we decided to issue pharmaceutical and humanitarian vouchers for Ukrainian citizens in Georgia, as well as send humanitarian aid to people in Ukraine. Today, with the help of the Red Cross, humanitarian aid will be sent to the children. It was extremely difficult for us to watch the footage of the children and realize the situation in which they are today. We have also set up special boxes in our pharmacies, where anyone who makes a purchase can donate what they want to send to Ukraine, and we will transport all this with the help of the Red Cross.
Giorgi: So, effective cooperation has been established with the Red Cross, right?
Katie: Yes. It is very important to partner with them. They really help us a lot, because without them we can not solve logistical issues.
Giorgi: However, it should be noted that Pharmadepo shipped the first cargo on its own, independently, I mean with other companies but the Red Cross was not involved…
Katie: Yes, the Red Cross was not involved. The state helped us organize all this and together with other companies we launched first aid kits in Ukraine.
Giorgi: The first batch of imported medicines from Turkey. What have we achieved with this change? What is the situation at the moment? How do you value your customers' interest in all of this?
Katie: Yes, there was a very significant change in the legal framework, which allowed us Georgian pharmaceutical companies to import medicines from Turkey. Previously, this restriction existed - Turkey was not on the list of countries recognized by our legislation. Consequently, we can already import these medications. We started these negotiations immediately. It was very important that - as soon as we were consulted by the state, we immediately started preparing for this process. The import of medicines is associated with many bureaucracies, therefore there was a lot of preparation involved. The distributor himself must have the appropriate balance to make purchases, which is difficult. As soon as we started the negotiations, then there was already a legislative change and we introduced these medicines instantly. We are talking about 32 medicines. These are medications for chronic diseases. Consumers are very sensitive to them because they are actually in everyday use.
Giorgi: From the listed medicines that Pharmadepo has already brought to Georgia - what is the main difference between them and the ones here?
Katie: It is very important to say that the medicines we imported from Turkey are produced for the Turkish market. However, we had medicined on our market, produced for the European market - I'm talking about exact analogs. It is very important that the manufacturer of these medicines is the same. The difference is in the packaging, for example - there are Turkish labels on medicined from Turkey because it is produced for that particular market and consumer. The difference between the prices is significant - in many cases, medicines imported from Turkey are twice cheaper. We want to emphasize that we give the customer an alternative - they can choose between the existing medicines and those imported from Turkey.
Giorgi: How did the consumer react to this change? You personally had active communication with the customer. Did this communication take place and how did it result?
Katie: One word was enough to make it a signal to users of this medication. We even had queues in pharmacies. It is a very important change for them. However, I note here that the sale of the same European medicines has not stopped. So, again we gave the customers a choice. And I think that's exactly what our Pharmadepo business is all about - giving customers a choice.
Giorgi: Probably what Pharmadepo needs to do for a long time is to provide information to consumers.
Katie: I agree. We see our role in providing information. We are happy to do this because - in general, the role of the pharmacy field is to make the patient, the average consumer, well aware of what the choice is and according to what they should make the choice.
Giorgi: My last question is about the future perspective of Pharmadepo. Pharmadepo does not stop buying, ordering medicines and your relationships with distributors are getting deeper and deeper. What is necessary for the continuity of the process for the customer to be the most satisfied?
Katie: A lot of work is done by our procurement service, which is in constant contact with the Turkish side to find even more alternatives. We are now talking about 32 medications, which is not a small amount - but we want it to be even more. For this, there is continuous communication with the Turkish side. We added 3 more pharmacies in Tbilisi. We have 13 pharmacies across Georgia - 5 of them are in Tbilisi. The goal of the added pharmacies is to cover more neighborhoods as well. We would very much like to add regional pharmacies as soon as possible as there are many requests for this. Our pharmacies have the freedom to request the demanded medicines and we provide on-site transportation.
