Ruling party MP defends reference pricing, dismisses claims medicines cost more than in Europe

The chairman of a parliamentary commission examining pricing in key sectors has defended Georgia’s reference pricing system for medicines, rejecting opposition claims that drugs could be more expensive than in European markets.

Speaking at a commission session on Friday, Shota Berekashvili, who heads the temporary parliamentary body reviewing pricing structures for food, pharmaceuticals and fuel, said the system ensures prices remain below European levels.

The session, which included representatives of pharmaceutical companies, focused on the structure of the medicines market, pricing chains and operational processes within the sector.

Berekashvili said the reference pricing model in Georgia is based on benchmarks from four countries - North Macedonia, Montenegro, Latvia and Bulgaria - with prices set below the average observed in those markets.

“This price cannot be higher than in European countries - it simply cannot be, because that is how the reference system works,” he said.

He described suggestions that medicines might be more expensive under the system as “speculation”, attributing such claims to a lack of understanding of how the pricing mechanism operates.