The issue of a looming liberalization in the regime governing the opening and operation of pharmacies in Greece, which for decades was one of the more protected of the so-called “closed shops” in the country, generated a heated response this week by unionists representing the field.
The head of the greater Athens area (Attica prefecture) pharmacies’ association, Andreas Lourantos, took to the airwaves on Thursday to charge that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had broken his promises over the issue.
In an appearance on the Athens-based Skai TV station, Lourantos, a long-time opponent of any liberalization in the pharmacy sector in Greece, claimed Tsipras had promised that non-pharmacists would continue to be barred from owning and operating – with trained pharmacists as employees – such businesses.
“Not one (chance) in a million,” was the phrase he claimed Tsipras used.
Most associations of pharmacy owners and pharmacists – all state licensed professionals – have long attempted to block the prospect of super markets and other multinational retailers from selling prescribed medicines in the country.
Lourantos, among others, claimed that the liberalization being attempted will lead to a regime that does not exist in western Europe, as he said, but instead is found in some east European countries and in the advanced European north.
