Pharmacies may start selling soft drinks, healthy food, certain types of clothing and footwear, sports equipment, and a range of other products. Deputies from United Russia Alexander Petrov, Oleg Ivaninsky and Tatyana Kusaiko submitted to the State Duma a bill expanding the list of goods for pharmaceutical retail.
Now, in addition to medicines, it has the right to sell only medical products, diet food, dietary supplements and several other categories. The deputies propose to add more than 20. Among them are textiles and hosiery, soft drinks, healthy food, such as nuts, sports equipment and others.
Innovations should help improve the financial condition of pharmacies. The explanatory note to the document emphasizes that due to the volatility of the exchange rate, increased lending rates, changed conditions for the supply of medicines, as well as the continuing shortage of certain items, the working capital of pharmacies will decrease in the coming months. This, in turn, may lead to a reduction in the range of drugs, the document specifies.
Experts point out that the pharmacy market is currently experiencing a serious liquidity shortage, which should peak by the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. This is due to a sharp increase in sales in February-March and the subsequent decline, as well as severe restrictions on deferred payments from suppliers. The bill proposes a mechanism that allows, if not to completely remove this problem, then at least to seriously improve the situation.
Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia: What the pharmacy was prescribed: socks and chewing gum may appear in the pharmaceutical retail
