“No matter how hard it is for us, we will certainly not be ashamed,” – Valery Zaluzhny. I am ready to sign every word.
At first there were 10 days of shock and a state of numbness. It was hard to understand what was happening to you. Couldn’t talk, couldn’t eat, couldn’t write, couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t, I couldn’t, I couldn’t…. An extra 2 kilograms of weight that could not be lost in peacetime – bah-bah – and minus 10 kilograms. It seems to me that I am not just talking about myself, but about many people in Ukraine, many women at least.
Further days of realizing everything. I remembered February-March-April 2014, when I cried almost every day. Today I cry sometimes too. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube saved and still saves me. A place where Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kherson and Mariupol are listened to, spoken about and shown. The horrors of war brought to us by the “rescuers and liberators” of the second army of the world. How is that possible? It’s possible. It’s real. And our AFU, who are resisting this onslaught. Effectively. I would even say feminine – elegant and tasteful.
Supermarkets, gas stations, banks, markets are working. They bring bread. Milk and eggs. What about medicine?
– Ukraine has been at war since February 24. How would you characterize the situation in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market?
We have to say at once: we have been at war for 8 years, and if we were at a distance before, it does not mean that it did not exist. And now, as the military say, there is an acute phase.
A month ago Delta Medical was making other, peaceful plans, but now everyone has to readjust to the “military rails”. And it’s difficult. Because there are not enough staff in pharmacies, logistics chains and communication with the central offices of pharmacy companies are broken. It is also difficult to receive and replenish supplies from abroad, especially if two out of three channels (sea, air and land) are blocked.
There is another problem – the geographic location of our pharmacy warehouse.
Delivery of goods to pharmacies in Kyiv is quite difficult because there are so many roadblocks in the city. The system that worked with the central offices of pharmacy chains before the active phase of the war is broken. Their management gives pharmacies the opportunity to order directly, but the work does not always add up. Many pharmacies have switched to the mode of delivery from 9:00 to 15:00, and you can bring the goods, but there will be no one to take it. And gasoline is 49 UAH per liter. So there are difficulties. But as long as we have something to deliver, we will deliver it.
Delta Medical’s product range does not include many drugs that can save lives, but that does not mean that our “vitamins” are not relevant in wartime. The other day I took a box of vitamins from my office and distributed them to our soldiers at one of the checkpoints. I didn’t expect them to be so happy that I had brought them and conducted consultations as a doctor. They were joking, thanking me, and my voice and hands were trembling, probably from the happiness of a good deed and a piece of positivity.
Now logistics are very important. Delta Medical has been back in business since the beginning of March. At first we had problems with people. Now there is a backbone that comes to work day in and day out. And it’s not just warehouse workers, it’s employees from different departments.
It’s normal to be afraid of shelling and bombing. But we must overcome this in ourselves and try to go to work, realizing that a lot depends on your work and your “vitamins” (let’s call them that) – the mood and condition of people in Kyiv, Dnipro, Cherkassy, Poltava, Odessa, Nikolaev and other cities. We should be at a distance of access to the peaceful population, because not everyone has left Kiev and not everyone has left Ukraine. After all, someone brings us bread every day.
– Can we hope that after the victory the pharmaceutical market will get a new impetus for development?
I have only one answer to this question so far – there will be no life for those who still sponsor terror. Those companies that continue to do business in the Russian market have no chance to work for us in Ukraine.
– You, as the head of Delta Medical, have always had very specific positions and have always been openly on the side of Ukraine (war 2014, annexation of Crimea, assistance to the army, etc.) despite the fact that the business is international. What kind of assistance do you provide to Ukraine now?
Throughout 2014 we have helped and continue to help the Ukrainian army and medicine. The other day Delta Medical shipped eight pallets of ALPE Hemostop hemostatic gauze from the warehouse. We gave everything we had in stock to the army and the Ministry of Health. We will help with antipyretics and painkillers. We will help with everything we have. It’s just that it’s harder to help in the environment (I mean importing goods from abroad).
We now have incredible support from our colleagues in Europe and the CIS countries. But, on the other hand, there are manufacturers who demand prepayment. How not to call them fascists and accomplices of the Rashists? I’m holding back.
Time will put everything in its place. God will forgive, maybe.
– Many people are now rethinking their values: something important earlier today has already fallen by the wayside. What is most important to you now? And what has become not important at all?
It’s not going to be like it used to be. We’re used to sleeping out of our pajamas. We realize that ironed sheets are a thing of the past. We are now happy that we can just sleep. We have doggy yorkie food and medicine in our anxious suitcase. But today we can say that we are a nation. Regardless of where we were born.
“Life is the most important thing now,” I often hear today. Was the value of life different in peacetime? Don’t Russians live in their own country? Only as slaves, ready to kill for a kilogram of sugar.
I will live in free Ukraine.
I am very happy to see everyone coming back to life after the shock. Everyone now, including Delta Medical, must work in their place, harmoniously, like musicians in an orchestra. We are responsible for the business of the country. The circulatory system of the country must not stop. This is our front.
– Remember when they were making a documentary about Delta Medical over the summer, the question was, what would you say to yourself 20 years ago? What can you say to yourself today?
I would quote our commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny: “No matter how difficult it is for us, we certainly will not be ashamed.”
I am not judging anyone, it is difficult for everyone, everyone has their own worries. But my opinion: one should not be ashamed, especially in front of oneself. In front of your children. To your friends. To the future.
We now have incredible support from ordinary people all over the world. At the same time, the Russians have proved that there are no safe places in the world in principle. And if Europe thinks it is safe, I would like to say – wake up, “worrying” will not save you.
Pharmaceutical companies and distributors should not be ashamed of their activities today. And when I see in pharmacies and sub-distributors a 100% markup on oncological drugs from Delta Medical, it seems to me that they should be ashamed. I mean, everybody sees it. Do people really think that the war will wipe everything out? And conscience?
photo: facebook Guli Pogotova and Delta Medical
Source – UP
