UPDATE 1-Polish watchdog clears Richter buy of Polpharma

(Adds share suspension, company statement)

WARSAW/BUDAPEST, July 4 (Reuters) - Poland's competition authority on Friday cleared the purchase of Polpharma by Hungary's Richter Gedeon GDRB.BU, paving the way for the creation of central Europe's top pharmaceuticals group.

Richter agreed last November to buy Polpharma, Poland's leading maker of generic drugs, and an 81 percent stake in Russia's OAO Akrikhin for about $1.7 billion from Genefar BV.

The Budapest bourse suspended trade in Richter shares from 0940 GMT until the end of trade on Monday. The company said in a statement it was preparing to publish potentially market moving information, but did not elaborate.

It declined to comment further.

After completing the transactions, Richter will become the region's biggest drug company, ahead of Slovenia's Krka (KRKG.LJ: Quote, Profile, Research) and Czech Zentiva (ZNTVsp.PR: Quote, Profile, Research).

"The combination will not significantly limit competition, especially through the creation or strengthening of a market dominating position," the Polish regulator said.

Before the suspension, Richter shares slipped 0.8 percent to 31,960 forints in light trade, valuing the company at $4 billion. (Reporting by Chris Borowski in Warsaw and Krisztina Than/Gergely Szakacs in Budapest; Editing by Quentin Bryar)