Development trends and structure of the pharmaceutical business of Ukraine

Does Ukraine tend to the trends of world markets in the development of pharmacy networks? Is this business segment is highly refrained? How do it`s network profits are generated – at the expense of price indicators or through the expansion of the network in as many regions as possible?

Statistics

According to the consulting company Pro-Consulting and apteka.ua portal, in Ukraine there are more than 21 thousand pharmacies (outlets). The Ukrainian pharmacy market is characterized by high fragmentation and recently its consolidation is taking place. National companies remain the main operators of the Ukrainian pharmacy market.

Trends in the pharmacy market, USD

Market tendencies

1. If the trends for 2013-2014 were to reduce the number of pharmacy kiosks in view of the prohibition of this category of sales outlets, then the opposite trend is now emerging: the pharmacy market has begun a gradual expansion. In some regions of Ukraine in 2015-2016 there was an increase in the number of pharmacies. Among them: Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Vinnitsa, Lviv and, undoubtedly, the city of Kyiv. On the other hand, the number of pharmacies decreased in uncontrolled by Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. There is a tendency to consolidate retail
pharmaceutical companies. Basically, these are big players like “Apteka Nyzkykh Tsin”, “Dobroho Snia” and “Bazhayemo Zdorovia”. These networks, which consist of 50 or more outlets, showed an increase of 4 % in 2014-2016, while the growth of single points was less than 1 %.

2. The share of large pharmacy networks in the Ukrainian market has increased from 60 % in 2013 to 66.8 % in 2016. On the other hand, non-largest networks have reduced their share from 23.9 % in 2013 to 18 % in 2016. There is a large-scale tendency towards the allocation of segment leaders and their consolidation.

According to the apteka.ua portal, the number of pharmacy outlets belonging to FOPs is gradually increasing in the regions. About 40 % of the total number of such points are in villages and townships. On the other hand, the percentage of communal enterprises in the overall structure of the pharmacy market is decreasing. In general, one can note the following trend: the smaller the population, the greater the proportion of communal pharmacies, as well as pharmacy outlets of the individual entrepreneurs. The largest number of pharmacy outlets is concentrated in the Central and Western regions of Ukraine. As of the beginning of June, it is 26.8 % and 27.8 % of all retail outlets in Ukraine. Kyiv has about 7.4 % of the total number of points in its territory. The leaders among the regions by volume of pharmacy outlets are Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, Kharkiv and Lviv regions.

Consolidation of Pharmacy Market

Experts mention that although most of the pharmacy outlets now are concentrated in small pharmacy networks, the process of consolidation is taking place intensively, resulting in an increase in the share of large networks in the total volume of almost 5 %.

Many points work with a franchise. In general, the mechanism is so: a small network takes a franchise in a strong large network and takes it`s benefits. Another option is the exchange of shares between a small and a large company, with the small network leaving behind some management functions, while the front and back offices are transferred to a large one.

Primus inter pares

The undisputed leader, which, according to experts’ forecasts will take up to 20 % of the market, is pharmacy from Zaporizhzhya “Magnolia” with its projects “Apteka Nyzkykh Tsin”, “Kopiika”, “Blagodia”. The “Apteka Nyzkykh Tsin” network has been behind competitors for several years now for its relatively long history. The network is actively expanding its presence in all regions
of Ukraine and now has 500 outlets in the country.

The next in ratings are “Sirius-95” with its brand “Bazhayemo Zdorovia” and a pharmacy network, which has more than 400 pharmacies; “Med-Service Group” with more than 300 points of sale in 100 cities of Ukraine; “Farmastor” with the trademark “Apteka Dobroho Dnia”, which posists itself as a pharmacy supermarket with over 230 sales outlets.

Experts` Forecast

According to experts’ forecasts, the trends of the domestic pharmacy, trough pharmacy networks will take place in the following directions:

• Consolidation will continue and gain momentum.
• However, there are no “expensive” deals.
• The 2016 trend in increasing of sales in packings and dollar sales volumes will continue
• The structure of consumption is increasingly leaning toward more expensive drugs.

Summing up, we should say: all experts are unanimous in the opinion that more than 21 thousand of pharmacy points are too large for Ukraine, therefore the requirements and challenges of the pharmaceutical market will become even more severe.