It’s Known What Prices the PCR Tests Are Imported to Armenia: The Ministry Responded to the Inquiry

Armenia no longer uses locally produced PCR tests. The government imports the tests, with some received as donations and others purchased. The price of the purchased tests ranges from 850 drams to 3000 drams. This was officially announced by the Ministry of Health.

Fact-info submitted a written inquiry to the Ministry of Health, asking which country's produced PCR tests are used and at what price Armenia acquires them. The ministry informed that currently, PCR tests are being used from the production of China, Russia, Germany, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, Korea, and Belarus. The tests received as donations and some purchased are produced in China, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Belarus. The prices of the tests vary between 850 drams and 3000 drams at different times.

The ministry did not clarify how many tests were purchased at the lowest price of 850 drams and the highest of 3000 drams. They also did not provide information on how the tests sent to Armenia as donations are distributed.

At the same time, the cost of testing in Armenia ranges from 7000 to 20,000 drams. Free testing is only carried out at polyclinics. In other cases, citizens are forced to pay several times more out of pocket for testing.

When asked how many tests are used in our country monthly, the ministry did not specify a concrete figure, adding that the number of PCR tests used directly depends on the epidemiological situation of the coronavirus infection. However, data from November 1, 2021, indicates that a total of 2,110,256 tests have been conducted in Armenia since the onset of the disease, with only about 100,000 being locally produced.

Back on April 6, 2020, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking about the need for COVID-19 PCR tests, announced that $550,000 would be allocated to the Institute of Molecular Biology of the NAS of Armenia to create local tests and procure raw materials. According to Pashinyan, Armenia should be a country ready for maximum produced goods. On June 24, Health Minister Arsen Torosyan stated that Armenian-produced tests were already ready.

Through written inquiries, we also asked about the use of locally produced tests, requesting the ministry to inform us how extensively they are used. However, it turned out that Armenia has not become a test-producing country. The Ministry of Health only received Armenian tests in 2020—just 103,155 tests.

It is noted that the director of the institute reported that approximately $250,000 would be required for materials for 100,000 tests. He insisted on July 1, 2020, that the cost of one test would not exceed $2.75. Meanwhile, almost 100,000 tests were produced for $550,000.

Rough calculations indicate that the average cost of each produced test was around $5.3. Hence, it turns out that Armenian-produced tests have become quite expensive, approximately 2500 drams. However, the Ministry of Health has purchased tests for 850 drams, leading to the conclusion that purchasing tests is markedly cheaper than production. In other words, the $550,000 was wasted and spent inefficiently.

Armenia not only did not become a test producer but is also a country that sells to its citizens at multiple higher prices, as the tests are purchased at 850-3000 drams but sold for 7000-20,000 drams.