Belarus plans to increase the export of its pharmaceutical production to the Russian Federation, Health Minister of Belarus Vasily Zharko told journalists on May 14. He explained that the ratification of the Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the production and mutual supplies of medicines implies the abolition of the licensing of Belarusian medicines imported to Russia. “Belarusian medicine will become cheaper in the Russian Federation, because earlier we used to pay $2000 just for the license alone”, he said. At the same time, Russian manufacturers of drugs do not pay for the license and their overall expenses for getting the permission are about $5. Vasily Zharko noted that the domestic producers of medicines satisfy about 50% of the Belarusian pharmaceutical market in terms of the names of the medicines and 29% of demand in monetary terms.