State-owned pharmachies union chief warns of shortages of medication

Apoteke Beograd has been under serious financial strain for months with employees owed months of back pay. According to opposition officials, the problems have allegedly been created to bring down the value of the company before it is sold, a claim the authorities have denied. 

Union leader Jelena Sikuljak told Nova.rs that the company is no longer producing a number of medications used to treat different ailments including epilepsy, skin conditions and other. She said that Apoteke Beograd supplied the public with medication that was much cheaper than imports or products by private companies, especially medication for rare diseases. Sikuljak said her company used to make medication for small animals which none of the private pharmacies does.

She warned that Apoteke Beograd's stocks of some widely-used medication are very small, including those subsidised by the government. Patients in Serbia can go to their designated doctors in government-operated health care facilities and get prescriptions which are either free of charge in government-owned pharmacies such as Apoteke Beograd or cost less than market price.