Will the pharmaceutical companies of Ukraine survive without gas?

“Industry in the conditions of limited amounts of energy supplies or complete cessation of gas supplies from the Russian Federation.”

This was the main topic for domestic enterprises, including the pharmaceutical industry right before the beginning of heating provision.

On June 18th the heads of leading pharmaceutical companies of Ukraine discussed the issues of transitioning to alternative fuels and energy saving. The discussion took place at the meeting of the board of the Association of Employers’ of medical and microbiological industries of Ukraine (AEMMIU).

According to the head of AEMMIU Valeriy Pechaev, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a draft Law “On special period in the energy sector”, according to which the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine may introduce so-called “special period in the event of a limited or complete cessation of the energy supply. This means that pharmaceutical companies of Ukraine may remain without gas and electricity. The pharmaceutical industry has an important social function to supply the citizens of Ukraine with affordable and good quality medicines, so employers are planning to ask the government to make a decision on continuous supply of gas for the pharmaceutical enterprises.

However, many companies are taking steps to transfer to alternative fuels: coal, wood pellets, peat. For example, Shostka enterprise “Pharmhim” began the process of conversion of the heating system of the enterprise. It is planned to install long burning boilers with a total capacity of about 500 kW for heating of manufacturing and domestic sites. General Director of “Pharmhim” Viktor Lyashenko said that the company will need to invest more than 600 thousand UAH to transform the heating system.

– The project will pay off within one year, since only last year, the company spent about 800 thousand UAH on heating and hot water – explains the head of Pharmhim.

The stumbling block in this path may be the overly bureaucratized process of approvals and permits, which is often further burdened by corruption.

Business executives believe that the time required to obtain necessary documentation needs to be significantly reduced in times of a difficult political and economic situation Ukraine finds itself in today. This will allow the pharmaceutical industry not only to survive the severe winter, but also to lay the prospects for further development.