Antibiotics cost significantly less in neighboring Georgia, Armenian activist says

Antibiotics are significantly cheaper in neighboring Georgia than in Armenia, Narek Karapetyan, coordinator of the Mer Dzevov (Our Way) movement, said on Saturday after conducting a small-scale price comparison at a local pharmacy.

Karapetyan said he purchased three antibiotics and found that each was priced between 1,000 and 1,200 Armenian drams higher in Armenia than in Georgia.

“For example, the antibiotic Azimak costs 2,500 drams in Armenia, while in Georgia it is priced at 1,500 drams,” he said. “Similarly, Augmentin costs 4,900 drams here, compared to 3,700 drams in Georgia.”

Karapetyan argued that the price gap is not the result of pharmacy markups but rather wholesale pricing and state policy.

“The issue is not that pharmacies are selling at higher prices,” he said. “Pharmacies are purchasing at higher prices because the government does not pursue a policy of reducing medicine prices, as Georgia does.”

Karapetyan is the nephew of businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, the founder of the Mer Dzevov movement. The movement later gave rise to the Strong Armenia party.

He recalled that one of the five economic steps proposed by Samvel Karapetyan for building a stronger Armenia focuses on reducing medicine prices.

“We have pledged to achieve a reduction of more than 20% in medicine prices,” Karapetyan said.