OREANDA-NEWS In Russia, there are problems with the purchase of some medical devices, said Ekaterina Karakulina, director of the Department of Organization of Medical Care and Sanatorium and Resort Affairs of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. According to her, the reason for the difficulties lies in the fact that at the moment it has not been possible to hold tenders for the purchase of medical products, RIA Novosti writes.

We have difficulties today in the purchase of medical devices. We know this very well. We still have things when the competitions did not directly take place, but these are also features of the supply of a number of medical products to the Russian Federation,” said Karakulina.

Earlier it was reported that by the beginning of April, the Ministry of Health had almost exhausted the budget provided for this year for the purchase of medicines under the state program. At the same time, it was not possible to completely close the need for funds, which is why additional state purchases for 23 billion rubles were announced for 2023–2024. Meanwhile, the funding gap for the program is growing.

Prior to this, the head of the Federal Customs Service, Vladimir Bulavin, said that the volume of imports of medicines to Russia from the EU and the USA remains at the level of last year. The main suppliers are Germany, France, Great Britain, as well as Belarus and India, while the most expensive drugs come from the USA, Canada, Switzerland and Ireland.