Pharmacy activity licence in Estonia

In Estonia, pharmacy services may be provided only in a pharmacy that holds an activity licence from the State Agency of Medicines (Ravimiamet)¹³¹⁷. A general pharmacy must be controlled and managed by a pharmacist, and the law limits who may hold shares in it²¹²²²⁵. This page explains the licence under the Medicinal Products Act (ravimiseadus), with a short note on the separate licence for wholesale of medicinal products.

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

Under the act, a pharmacy service is the retail sale or other dispensing of medicinal products. It includes advice on their proper and rational use, information on their correct and safe use and storage, and the extemporaneous and batch preparation and dispensing of medicinal products¹. The act names three kinds of pharmacy: the general pharmacy (üldapteek), the veterinary pharmacy and the hospital pharmacy². A general pharmacy is a business set up to provide pharmacy services, and its premises must be marked with the word "Apteek" together with the pharmacy's name³. A branch pharmacy (haruapteek) is a structural unit of a pharmacy and is entered on that pharmacy's licence⁴.

Besides medicinal products, a general pharmacy may sell only medical and hygiene products, including food supplements⁵. Distance selling (an online pharmacy) needs a separate right granted by Ravimiamet on application⁶.

Wholesale of medicinal products is a different activity. Only wholesale or manufacturing licence holders may sell medicinal products wholesale⁷, and as a rule only to pharmacy, manufacturing or wholesale licence holders⁸.

The legal act and the authority

The main act is the Medicinal Products Act (Ravimiseadus, RavS), in the wording in force from 1 October 2026⁹. The general rules on activity licences come from the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (Majandustegevuse seadustiku üldosa seadus, MSÜS)¹⁰. Detailed rules are set by regulations of the minister responsible for the field. One regulation covers the conditions for providing pharmacy services, including premises, staff and work organisation¹¹. Another covers the qualification of the competent person¹².

The competent authority is the State Agency of Medicines (Ravimiamet), which decides on the application¹³. Licences are recorded in the Ravimiamet register of activity licences (tegevuslubade register), which Ravimiamet keeps¹⁴. From the day a licence takes effect, its data can be found in that register¹⁵.

Who must apply

An activity licence is required for manufacturing medicinal products, for wholesale, for pharmacy services (general, hospital and veterinary pharmacy services) and for brokering of medicinal products¹⁶. Pharmacy services may be provided only in a pharmacy, or a structural unit of a pharmacy, that holds this licence¹⁷. Each general, veterinary or hospital pharmacy, and each wholesale or manufacturing site, needs its own licence¹⁸.

As a rule, an undertaking is given a licence for only one of these activities; the act names a few exceptions, such as wholesale combined with manufacturing¹⁹.

Requirements for the applicant

Who may hold the licence. A licence holder may be a state or local authority, another public-law legal person, a sole proprietor or a private-law legal person, except a non-profit association²⁰.

Pharmacist ownership. A sole proprietor who holds a general pharmacy licence must be a pharmacist (proviisor) and work as manager in at least one of their general pharmacies²¹. For a company, more than 50% of its shares and controlling influence must belong to a pharmacist who works as manager in at least one of the company's general pharmacies²². That pharmacist may be linked to meeting these conditions for at most four general pharmacies in settlements with 4,000 or more inhabitants²³. This limit applies to everyone who holds shares in a general pharmacy, directly or through another company²⁴.

Ownership restrictions. The following may not be shareholders or members of a company holding a general pharmacy licence: holders of a wholesale, manufacturing or health-care-services licence, undertakings linked to them through controlling influence within the meaning of the Competition Act, persons with the right to prescribe medicinal products, and holders of a veterinarian's licence²⁵. In the other direction, a pharmacy licence holder or its subsidiary may not be a shareholder of a company holding a manufacturing or wholesale licence²⁶. A general pharmacy licence holder may not provide health care or veterinary services while the licence is valid²⁷.

Restrictions on establishing pharmacies. The earlier rules in § 42¹ of the act on issuing general pharmacy licences are no longer in force. The Supreme Court declared subsections 1–3 unconstitutional and invalid, and the remaining subsections were repealed in 2014²⁸. The act in force limits where a branch of a general pharmacy may be located. It may be in a settlement that is not a town, or in a town with fewer than 4,000 inhabitants. In a town with more than 4,000 inhabitants, it may be in a district only if the town's nearest pharmacy is at least 10 km away and there is a justified need for access to medicinal products²⁹.

Competent person (pharmacy manager). In a pharmacy, the competent person is the pharmacy manager (apteegi juhataja)³⁰. A person may be the competent person at only one licensed site at a time³¹. In a general pharmacy, they must have a university degree in pharmacy (proviisor) or a corresponding foreign qualification. They also need at least two years' experience providing pharmacy services in a general or hospital pharmacy in the European Economic Area (EEA) within the last five years, of which at least one year was in Estonia. A person who has already been the competent person of an Estonian pharmacy needs only one year's experience in Estonia within the last five years³². Pharmacy services may be provided only by pharmacists (proviisor) and assistant pharmacists (farmatseut) registered with the Health Board (Terviseamet)³³. The manager of a pharmacy may not at the same time work for a wholesale or manufacturing licence holder³⁴.

Staff. The licence holder must employ enough qualified staff for the workload³⁵.

Premises. A pharmacy must have at least a sales area, a storage room or a separate storage area, a staff room and a toilet. If it prepares or dispenses medicinal products, it also needs preparation rooms³⁶. The minimum floor area of a general pharmacy is 80 m² in a town with 4,000 or more inhabitants and 50 m² elsewhere. For a branch of a general pharmacy it is 25 m²³⁷.

Capital and AML/CFT. Whether a minimum share capital or anti-money-laundering rules apply is specified for the client's case.

Documents filed with the application

The application is filed on the Ravimiamet form for the licence sought³⁹. Ravimiamet asks for it to be filed through its client portal (Kliendiportaal) or electronically⁴⁰. Besides the general data required by MSÜS⁴¹, the act requires the following⁴²:

• a document proving the right to use the premises;
• a plan and description of the premises;
• a description of the technical equipment;
• a description of how medicinal products are stored;
• the arrangements for quality control of medicinal products;
• the business name of the undertaking.

For a pharmacy licence, the applicant also files⁴³:

• the planned number of specialist staff and the number of qualified staff already employed;
• a list of other pharmacies owned by the same person, if any;
• a description of how distance selling will be organised, if the distance-selling right is sought.

Ravimiamet's guidance also asks for the competent person's CV and proof of education, a list of specialist staff and proof of payment of the state fee⁴⁴.

Wholesale applicants instead add, among other items, an organisation chart, the product groups to be handled, a transport description and planned staff numbers⁴⁵. The competent person of a wholesaler needs a university degree in pharmacy and at least one year's experience within the last five years at a wholesaler, a manufacturer or a pharmacy⁴⁶.

State fee and processing time

Under the State Fees Act (Riigilõivuseadus), the state fee for reviewing an application is⁴⁷:

• EUR 1,000 for a pharmacy licence with the right to prepare medicinal products;
• EUR 500 for a pharmacy licence without that right;
• EUR 2,000 for a wholesale licence.

Adding the distance-selling right to a pharmacy licence costs EUR 500⁴⁸.

Ravimiamet decides on the application, granting or refusing the licence, within 60 days of its submission⁴⁹. The time limit runs from the filing of all required data⁵⁰. The authority may ask for additional data and set a reasonable deadline for them⁵¹. These time limits come from the law and are not a promise about how long a case will take. The licence is granted only if the applicant meets the requirements, and the decision is Ravimiamet's⁵².

What LexorCorp Global does and how to order

The site has no fixed price for a pharmacy licence. It is one of the licensable activities covered by our activity licence application documentation service. LexorCorp Global OÜ prepares the application documents for your company and manages the filing process with the authority. We do not give legal advice and do not carry out audits or tax advice. We cannot promise that the licence will be granted or when, because the decision belongs to Ravimiamet. The state fee is paid by the client. The price for this activity is given on request; our guide to licensed activities in Estonia explains the service and how to request a price. We reply by email.

Sources

1. RavS § 29 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
2. RavS § 30 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
3. RavS § 30 (2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
4. RavS § 30 (9), (10) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
5. RavS § 31 (5) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
6. RavS § 31 (5^1), (5^2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
7. RavS § 26 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
8. RavS § 26 (4) (exceptions in (5), (5^1), (7)) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
9. RavS header — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
10. RavS § 46 (2); MSÜS § 16, § 19 — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)
11. RavS § 31 (6) p 3; määrus nr 24 § 1 — text in force from 01.07.2026 (RT I, 18.06.2026, 14)
12. RavS § 53 (6); määrus nr 42 — text in force from 17.02.2024 (RT I, 14.02.2024, 7)
13. RavS § 46 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
14. RavS § 39 (1), (3), (6) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
15. Ravimiamet, Tegevusload — text in force from web page read 11.11.2026
16. RavS § 38 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
17. RavS § 29 (2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
18. RavS § 40 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
19. RavS § 42 (1), (2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
20. RavS § 41 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
21. RavS § 41 (2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
22. RavS § 41 (3) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
23. RavS § 41 (4) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
24. RavS § 41 (5) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
25. RavS § 42 (5) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
26. RavS § 42 (3) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
27. RavS § 43 (2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
28. RavS § 42^1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
29. RavS § 30 (9^1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
30. RavS § 45 p 2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
31. RavS § 53 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
32. määrus nr 42 § 8 (1) — text in force from 17.02.2024 (RT I, 14.02.2024, 7)
33. RavS § 29 (3) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
34. RavS § 43 (4) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
35. RavS § 45 p 4 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
36. määrus nr 24 § 2 (1) — text in force from 01.07.2026 (RT I, 18.06.2026, 14)
37. määrus nr 24 § 7 (1), (2) — text in force from 01.07.2026 (RT I, 18.06.2026, 14)
39. RavS § 46 (2^1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
40. Ravimiamet, Tegevusload — text in force from web page read 11.11.2026
41. MSÜS § 19 (2) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)
42. RavS § 46 (2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
43. RavS § 46 (5) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
44. Ravimiamet, Tegevusload — text in force from web page read 11.11.2026
45. RavS § 46 (4) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
46. määrus nr 42 § 7 (1) — text in force from 17.02.2024 (RT I, 14.02.2024, 7)
47. RLS § 279 p 3, 4, 5 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 21.10.2026, 10)
48. RLS § 281 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 21.10.2026, 10)
49. RavS § 46 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)
50. MSÜS § 20 (1) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)
51. MSÜS § 19 (6) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)
52. RavS § 47 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 11.07.2026, 37)

Official sources

The laws this article names, each linked to its official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

• State Fees Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

Sources in the text are named without links; the official texts are linked under Official sources. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.