Three companies imported 60.3% of all drugs imported to Armenia in 2019.

The three are Vaga Pharm LLC, Alfa Pharm Import CJSC and Natali Pharm LLC.

In 2019, AMD 42.3 billion (US$81 million) in drugs were imported to Armenia by 114 companies.

Armenia’s State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) issued the data but did not disclose each company’s share of imports, arguing it’s a trade secret.

16% of the imported drugs are of German origin, followed by drugs manufactured in France. Russian-made drugs come in third. In total, drugs were imported from 66 countries.

The SCPEC report shows that some European manufacturers have warehouses in Georgia, from where the drugs are exported to Armenia.

Thus, in terms of exporting countries, most of the drugs are imported to Armenia from Georgia, Russia and Hungary.

In 2019, Armenia exported drugs worth some 6.4 billion drams ($12.3m) to eighteen countries.

Russia, Georgia and Uzbekistan imported 83.4% of Armenian-made drugs in 2019. More than half of total exports went to Russia.

In 2020, 24 companies exported drugs from Armenia.

According to the SCPEC, the largest exporters of drugs were Likvor CJSC, Pharmafact LLC and Trade Export CJSC. The three accounted for 72.7% of exports.  

SCPEC research revealed that some of the drug trade is transacted via the barter method for which there are no clear regulatory mechanisms in place.

The SCPEC highlighted the competition risks such methods carry.

The SCPEC also revealed that there are no statistics available on the import of unregistered drugs during the medical state of emergency announced in Armenia in March 2020.