MINSK, 30 March (BelTA) – Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova visited RUP Belmedpreparaty and talked to the workers, BelTA has learned.
Natalya Kochanova said: “Meetings with worker collectives, organizations, and institutions have become a tradition. Dialogue platforms have earned a good reputation lately. I am in favor of this form of communication with people when we come to meet with worker collectives and answer people's questions. As we talk, we find out the problems that people are worried about and the proposals they would like to put forward.”
The head of the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament said that she had already been to Belmedpreparaty when she worked in the government. She reminded that back then the industry had to increase the share of Belarusian medications up to 50%. It is necessary to raise the figure to 75% in the next five-year term. “Certainly, it is very important for the lineup of Belarusian medications to be sufficiently large and more affordable in comparison with imports,” Natalya Kochanova said. “You have started bottling the vaccine that the country looks forward to receiving. Today we saw the medications, which are used in the post-COVID period or in the course of COVID-19 treatment. Thank you very much for your R&D products because it is very important for the people.”
The senator stressed that the government spends rather heavily on fighting the coronavirus by means of buying medications and paying bonuses to medical workers.
“A Belarusian People's Congress took place a short while ago. Priority directions of development of our country for the next five-year term were determined then. Participants of the congress also discussed social and economic development, the social and political situation in the country and the tasks that all the government agencies face. Certainly, the proposals that had been received were summarized. In my opinion, the most important thing was that once again it was confirmed that our country remains a socially oriented state,” Natalya Kochanova. “Throughout the history of our country we've been doing our best to prioritize people with their needs and problems. Today the state has undertaken serious obligations concerning social guarantees. Those are education, culture, healthcare, and social security. Virtually 70% of the state budget is being spent on social articles of expenditure. After these priorities were identified it is very important for one to understand that the government will honor these commitments provided the economy and enterprises work.”
Belmedpreparaty Director General Sergei Belyayev told media that the conversation with Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova had turned out to be open and trustful. “Questions varied. Some focused on the operation of our enterprise while some focused on what awaits Belarusian enterprises. Everyday problems of maternity and childhood, pension age, environmental protection were mentioned. In other words, the spectrum of the questions was absolutely extensive,” he said. “Such meetings are necessary for the people to understand what processes are going on in government agencies, what novelties are being discussed and contemplated for the near future. Feedback from us, citizens, workers of enterprises is very important for the government.”
The director general noted that vaccines had been also mentioned during the meeting. “The process goes on. We are working on creating the vaccine. The main message to me as the head of the enterprise is that I should take care of the worker collective and work on raising salaries,” he specified. “In the next five-year term the share of Belarusian medications should be at least 75%. Our enterprise is working hard on it. We have compiled a rather ambitious program on introducing new products and on expanding the production of existing lineups in order to fully satisfy the Belarusian market. We are going to offer about 30 new medications. Certainly, our earnings will be increased by many times.”
At present Belmedpreparaty employs about 2,500 people.
Belmedpreparaty is a pharmaceutical enterprise with 90 years of history. It is one of the leading enterprises in the Belarusian pharmaceutical industry. The manufacturing facilities include 14 process shops and six auxiliary shops. The facilities are located at four sites: two in Minsk, one in Lida, and one in Skidel.
Belmedpreparaty offers a broad range of medications in over 20 pharmaceutical groups: anticancer drugs, antimicrobial drugs, drugs for treating cardiovascular system ailments, and other ones. The enterprise has a number of unique manufacturing facilities and is Belarus' only manufacturer of insulin medications, including genetically engineered human insulin medications, enzyme and biogenic preparations, medicinal preparations for ophthalmology applications in the form of eye drops, high-security narcotic and psychotropic drugs.
As of 1 January 2021 Belmedpreparaty had 335 medications registered on the home market and 606 medications registered on foreign markets in 19 countries. The company had registered 263 pharmaceutical substances, including 23 ones of its own make. The company exports about 50% of the output at present. In 2020 the exports were delivered to 31 countries. The products are made using manufacturing facilities that are certified in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.
One of the promising directions for Belmedpreparaty's development is participation in creating the managing company Center for High Pharmaceutical Technologies InnoPharma in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone. The center's creation is supposed to develop an international, modern, scientific, technological, and innovative complex for creating, manufacturing, and global commercialization of new pharmaceutical and biotechnological products and technologies.
