After the Russian strike on Kyiv on the night of October 25, 2025, the central warehouse of pharmaceutical distributor Optima-Pharm was completely destroyed. Ukrainian media reported that three people were killed in the attack on the capital and about 30 were injured, including seven children. Amid reports of damaged apartment buildings, the warehouse fire initially drew less attention, but it later became clear that one of the country’s key pharmaceutical logistics hubs had been hit.
Together with BaDM, Optima-Pharm controls about 85% of Ukraine’s medicine distribution market. The company said the destroyed goods accounted for roughly 20% of the country’s monthly medicine stock, and total losses were close to $100 million. In addition to the medicines, the company lost its office and databases containing information on supplies, logistics routes, and the needs of pharmacy chains.
This was not the first attack on the distributor’s infrastructure. Earlier, on the night of August 28, another company warehouse was reportedly struck. At the start of the full-scale invasion, BaDM’s logistics complexes were also destroyed. Against this background, sources cited by the publication said the strike did not look accidental, but rather like an attempt to disrupt rear-area access to medicines.
At the same time, industry representatives and officials say a nationwide shortage should not be expected. Farmak, a competitor of Optima-Pharm, expressed support and said it was ready to help prevent a sharp breakdown in supplies. The company also argued for temporarily allowing the use of warehouses without GDP certification, provided storage conditions are actually maintained, as was done for humanitarian medicine supplies at the start of the full-scale war.
The situation is also complicated by the financial backdrop. On October 24, Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee refused to suspend a fine of more than 4 billion hryvnias imposed on BaDM and Optima-Pharm. According to the committee, from March 2020 to December 2023 the two distributors set identical prices for a number of popular medicines at nearly the same time, which it classified as anti-competitive coordinated conduct.
“The company was prepared for this. A reserve buffer warehouse is being launched and will take over those volumes... During this time, disruptions may occur at one pharmacy or another. But this does not mean there will be a shortage,” Deputy Health Minister of Ukraine Edem Adamanov said on the national telethon.
According to him, it will take about two weeks to restart the processes, while other distributors are already adjusting routes to maintain even supplies across the regions. Ukrainian authorities therefore acknowledge the risk of temporary local disruptions, but reject forecasts of a large-scale medicine shortage across the country.