Pharmacy as a business activity in Slovenia, EU

Many foreign entrepreneurs have been inquiring how to open a pharmacy in Slovenia. Offering pharmacy services is a type of public service, which can be performed both by public institutions as well as private companies like an LTD company.

Pharmacy as a business activity in Slovenia, EU – you have to register a company first!

In order to start any business in Slovenia, you would have to register a company first. Non-EU citizens can register an LTD company. For that you need 7.500€ founding capital, a business address in Slovenia and a Slovenian tax number for all shareholders and representatives.

You will also have to travel to Slovenia to sign the act of establishment as well as open the corporate bank account. Once the company if opened you can proceed to do your business in Europe.

Concession for performing the business activity

The first step in obtaining concession for a pharmacy, is that the municipality holds a call for tender to perform pharmacy business activity. Firstly, the Pharmacy Chamber and Insurance Office of Slovenia issue an official opinion about it. Then the municipality grants the concession in agreement with the Ministry of Health. With this, it is also assigned on which area the business activity is performed. Each individual can receive only one area on which it will do the business activity. The contract of concession is a document, that described all the relationships between the issuer and recipient of the concession.

You need to have an assigned person who is the carrier of the concession

Each pharmacy has to name a head of the pharmacy. They have to have a Master’s degree in Pharmacy and also fulfill the conditions of completed professional exam, finished internship and have to master the Slovene language. The person must not be banned to perform his profession by court decree.

You can pass the professional exam at the Slovenian Ministry of Health once you have finished your internship. The Health Care Act describes these regulations.

A person who received a Master’s Degree in Pharmacy and did not carry out the business activity for more than three years, has to also pass an additional examination before taking on the concession.

Pharmacy as a business activity in Slovenia, EU – additional regulations

Additionally, the pharmacy has to have a passed a verification before starting the business activity and every year for the first 5 years. The responsible ministry carries out this verification.

Only an authorized person can administer the medicine. That person is either the holder of a Master’s Degree in Pharmacy or an engineer of pharmacy (depending on the prescription). This person also has to have passed the professional exam.

If you will be selling medicine online, you would need to obtain a special permit. You have to submit the application with the Ministry of health and fulfill specific conditions.

You will also have to report back about the prices of the medicine and manage data on the goods.

The pharmacy has to have appropriate equipment and business premises

When doing the business activity , you have to abide by the regulations pertaining to the business premises and equipment. You have to make sure to store the medicine appropriately and have sufficient stock. The pharmacy has to have on-site modern professional literature and the health care regulations.

You also have to ensure to regularly perform verification of the scales.

You can also provide other products like health remedies, beauty care products and other items for health protection.

Additionally, you need to manage the appropriate data with issuing prescription medicine. The pharmacy has to store prescriptions, other records and officially sealed books in accordance to the Medicines act (ZZdr-2).

The pharmacy has to set its business hours which cannot be shorter than 40 hour per week. Prescription medicine can only be administered in the pharmacy. Only the responsible governmental institution can decide, which medicine does require a prescription and those can be sold also in specialized drug stores in addition to a pharmacy.

Open a pharmacy with the assistance of company Data!

Data will be happy to help you open a company in Slovenia. We can also assist in obtaining the necessary documents for company establishment.

You can also register the company at our VEM point free of charge.

Our legal department can explain to you the conditions of running a pharmacy. They can also help you to apply for the permits and concession.

If your company needs a business address, we can provide services of virtual office.

For more information on opening a pharmacy in Slovenia, EU, you can write to our email [email protected]. You can also contact us over the phone 00386 1 6006 270 or 00386 40 530 718 (Viber, WhatsApp). You can also follow us on Facebook.