Ukraine's Liki24 medicine delivery startup quits Poland, decides to focus on Romania operations

MOSCOW. Nov 25 (Interfax) - Liki24, a Ukraine-based e-commerce platform for medicine delivery, has terminated its operations on the Polish market due to complicated regulations and has focused on developing its business in Romania, the Ukrainian startup's vice president of expansion, Taras Potichny, said at the Forbes Tech conference in Lvov on Thursday, according to Ukrainian media.

"The Polish market learned a long time ago to regulate all spheres, including hi-tech ones, the European way, and to properly investigate violations. In other words, if you come to Poland thinking that you have done a really good job in Ukraine and can try this business there, because Poland will support you, most likely it will not be so," Potichny said.

As regards Liki24's operations in three countries, Romania, Hungary, and Italy, where the Ukrainian company generates profit, it is its business in Romania that has been growing at the fastest pace, he said.

Romanian consumers have a similar mindset and are like Ukrainian consumers in many other ways, plus prices for a large number of medications are also similar, Potichny said.

"This morning we made such a carefully weighed decision that Romania is the New Black for the Ukrainian market, including for technologies," he said.

Romania has adopted European rules, but not yet in all areas, and these rules are not yet as strict as in other European Union countries, Potichny said.

Liki24.com is a medicine delivery service launched by Anton Avrinsky in 2017. According to Forbes Ukraine, the company's revenue quadrupled in 2020 to $20 million. The company also received the largest ever round of investment - $5 million - from Horizon Capital, F1V, TA Ventures, etc. After the start of the crisis, the company's financial proceeds dropped to zero, after which it decided to bolster its positions on European markets.

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