Kazakhstan spends billions on medicines every year, develops its own production, and signs investment agreements. However, imported drugs still dominate pharmacies. Why does the country remain dependent on foreign pills despite having factories? Orda.kz investigated this issue, reports Todayinfo news agency.
According to the Ministry of Health, the share of domestic drug production in Kazakhstan remains low at 15.1% in 2024. Meanwhile, the market itself is growing: pharmaceutical production volume reached 191.1 billion tenge in 2025, increasing by 8.2%. That is, production is developing, but not as fast as consumption is growing.
Even in the public procurement system, where the state directly influences the market, the share of domestic drugs is about 32% in monetary terms. According to the Ministry of Trade, Kazakhstan imported over $2.5 billion worth of medicines in 2025. 57% of imports come from Europe, 5.9% from India. Top suppliers include: Germany — 17.5%, Switzerland — 7.3%, Russia — 7.1%, India — 5.9%.
The Ministry of Health acknowledges that the key problem of Kazakh pharma is not the lack of factories, but dependence on the external market. "The development of domestic pharmaceutical production is constrained by dependence on imported pharmaceutical substances and raw materials, as well as high competition from large international pharmaceutical companies," the ministry said.
"There are only a few countries in the world that specialize in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and ensure global supply through huge production volumes. This model underlies the global pharmaceutical system," says Adam Alexeyuk, CEO of Polpharma Santo.
According to him, in these conditions, Kazakhstan focuses on what it can actually control — the production of finished dosage forms within the country. "We ensure a full cycle of finished dosage form production within the country — this directly affects supply stability, therapy accessibility, and drug independence," he emphasized.
According to the Ministry of Health, domestic enterprises produce drugs in almost all major therapeutic groups — from cardiovascular to anti-infective and nervous system drugs. Production capacities are concentrated in Shymkent, Almaty, and several regions, allowing the output of hundreds of millions of drug packages per year.
Manufacturers themselves confirm that they already compete with imports in many positions. "We produce about 240 drug names in Kazakhstan — both prescription and over-the-counter. These are mass-demand drugs that already successfully compete with imported analogues in quality, effectiveness, and affordability," says Alexeyuk. However, despite production, the market remains import-dependent, and the reason is not just price.
