The European Business Association joined the annual Medical Procurement of Ukraine forum

18/ 03/ 2026

Anna Bezruk, Manager of the Health Сare Committee at the European Business Association, took part in the Annual Supplier Forum “Rules of the Game 2026: MPUs Procurement Strategy”, which brought together over 300 experts, suppliers and key market stakeholders. During the forum, the MPU team presented its procurement plans for 2026. This year, procurement of medical goods will be carried out across 27 areas, with a total budget of UAH 14.3 billion. Key innovations include the introduction of multi-year framework agreements, the use of non-price selection criteria, and the diversification of procurement procedures depending on delivery timelines. Particular attention was paid to the topic of blended financing of Managed Entry Agreements (MEAs). The MEA mechanism has been in place in Ukraine since 2022 and is already demonstrating its effectiveness as a tool for access to innovative treatments. In 2025, the state allocated UAH 2.4 billion for the procurement of innovative medicines under MEAs — approximately 15% of the total medical procurement budget. An important step was the adoption in December 2025 of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1704, which enabled the financing of innovative medicinal products under MEAs simultaneously from the state budget, regional budgets, and healthcare institutions’ budgets. In effect, this represents a shift from a centralised procurement model to one based on partnership and shared responsibility. In this context, key issues remain the practical implementation of the mechanism, alignment of expectations between the state, regions and business, management of potential risks, and ensuring the main goal — genuine expansion of patient access to innovative therapies. Anna Bezruk presented the expert community’s position during the panel discussion “MEAs Blended Financing: How Combined State and Regional Budgets Can Expand Patient Access to Innovative Medicines”. Member companies of the Committee generally view the concept of aggregated demand and pooled budgets positively. A model combining resources from the state and regional budgets, hospital funds and donor programmes is potentially effective. It can expand procurement funding and improve patient access to innovative treatments, particularly for medicines that have received a positive HTA opinion but where negotiations are not initiated or do not progress due to budget constraints. Despite optimism regarding the new mechanisms, the business community emphasises the importance of process clarity. In particular, for stable business operations it is essential to understand: what share of regional budgets will be allocated to regional MEAs; the principles by which regions will make financing decisions; the mechanism for distributing funding between central and regional budgets. Anna Bezruk also highlighted the issue of negotiation timelines. After receiving a positive HTA opinion, companies are generally ready to begin negotiations immediately; however, in practice, there can be a significant delay between the issuance of the opinion and the start of negotiations. The Association has already submitted an official position to the Ministry of Health requesting the initiation of legislative amendments to clearly define the timelines for starting negotiations on MEAs following the publication of the relevant HTA opinion, as well as the duration of negotiations at each stage. Therefore, it is crucial for the market to establish clear procedural timelines, including: a defined timeframe for launching negotiations after a positive HTA opinion; specified timelines for feedback from MPU after companies submit proposals; clearly defined timeframes for each stage of the negotiation process. To stimulate innovation, it is essential to ensure transparent procedures, predictable negotiation timelines, clearly defined budgets (and their proportions) for MEAs, as well as overall regulatory predictability — including stable rules, consistent application, and clear decision-making algorithms. The combination of these factors can create a more stable environment for innovation and help achieve the main objective — improving access to treatment for Ukrainian patients. The business community remains open to cooperation and ready to contribute to the development of effective mechanisms for blended financing of MEAs and other legislative solutions. At the same time, it is essential that these mechanisms are clearly regulated in practice — with defined procedures, timelines, roles of stakeholders, and predictable implementation rules — to ensure their real-world applicability and improve patient access to treatment. The European Business Association expresses its gratitude to the organisers for the invitation and the professional discussion!

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Anna Bezruk, Manager of the Health Сare Committee at the European Business Association, took part in the Annual Supplier Forum “Rules of the Game 2026: MPU’s Procurement Strategy”, which brought together over 300 experts, suppliers and key market stakeholders.

During the forum, the MPU team presented its procurement plans for 2026. This year, procurement of medical goods will be carried out across 27 areas, with a total budget of UAH 14.3 billion. Key innovations include the introduction of multi-year framework agreements, the use of non-price selection criteria, and the diversification of procurement procedures depending on delivery timelines.

Particular attention was paid to the topic of blended financing of Managed Entry Agreements (MEAs). The MEA mechanism has been in place in Ukraine since 2022 and is already demonstrating its effectiveness as a tool for access to innovative treatments. In 2025, the state allocated UAH 2.4 billion for the procurement of innovative medicines under MEAs — approximately 15% of the total medical procurement budget. An important step was the adoption in December 2025 of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1704, which enabled the financing of innovative medicinal products under MEAs simultaneously from the state budget, regional budgets, and healthcare institutions’ budgets. In effect, this represents a shift from a centralised procurement model to one based on partnership and shared responsibility. In this context, key issues remain the practical implementation of the mechanism, alignment of expectations between the state, regions and business, management of potential risks, and ensuring the main goal — genuine expansion of patient access to innovative therapies.

Anna Bezruk presented the expert community’s position during the panel discussion “MEAs Blended Financing: How Combined State and Regional Budgets Can Expand Patient Access to Innovative Medicines”.

Member companies of the Committee generally view the concept of aggregated demand and pooled budgets positively. A model combining resources from the state and regional budgets, hospital funds and donor programmes is potentially effective. It can expand procurement funding and improve patient access to innovative treatments, particularly for medicines that have received a positive HTA opinion but where negotiations are not initiated or do not progress due to budget constraints.

Despite optimism regarding the new mechanisms, the business community emphasises the importance of process clarity. In particular, for stable business operations it is essential to understand:

what share of regional budgets will be allocated to regional MEAs;
the principles by which regions will make financing decisions;
the mechanism for distributing funding between central and regional budgets.

Anna Bezruk also highlighted the issue of negotiation timelines. After receiving a positive HTA opinion, companies are generally ready to begin negotiations immediately; however, in practice, there can be a significant delay between the issuance of the opinion and the start of negotiations. The Association has already submitted an official position to the Ministry of Health requesting the initiation of legislative amendments to clearly define the timelines for starting negotiations on MEAs following the publication of the relevant HTA opinion, as well as the duration of negotiations at each stage.

Therefore, it is crucial for the market to establish clear procedural timelines, including:

a defined timeframe for launching negotiations after a positive HTA opinion;
specified timelines for feedback from MPU after companies submit proposals;
clearly defined timeframes for each stage of the negotiation process.

To stimulate innovation, it is essential to ensure transparent procedures, predictable negotiation timelines, clearly defined budgets (and their proportions) for MEAs, as well as overall regulatory predictability — including stable rules, consistent application, and clear decision-making algorithms. The combination of these factors can create a more stable environment for innovation and help achieve the main objective — improving access to treatment for Ukrainian patients.

The business community remains open to cooperation and ready to contribute to the development of effective mechanisms for blended financing of MEAs and other legislative solutions. At the same time, it is essential that these mechanisms are clearly regulated in practice — with defined procedures, timelines, roles of stakeholders, and predictable implementation rules — to ensure their real-world applicability and improve patient access to treatment.

The European Business Association expresses its gratitude to the organisers for the invitation and the professional discussion!