Shortage of medications could materialize if legislation not cancelled.

President Victor Yushchenko (second from right) gets a bird’s eye view of the production line at Kyiv’s Borshchahivskiy Pharmaceutical Plant during a Nov. 13 visit which was attended by representatives from other leading Ukrainian pharmaceutical companies. During the tour, Yushchenko reaffirmed his pledge to veto what he described as a populist and dangerous law that would freeze prices on medications to July 2008 levels. Yushchenko said the law, which was supported on Oct. 20 by 242 deputies in Ukraine’s 450-seat legislature, could severely dent production and imports of medication during a time when Ukraine is struggling to contain a sudden and swift flu outbreak. Heavily criticized by the pharmaceutical industry and business advocacies – namely the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine and the European Business Association – the legislation was supported by three parliamentary factions: Presidential candidate Victor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn’s bloc and Petro Symonenko’s Communist faction. (Mykola Lazarenko).