In January–February 2022, Russian manufacturers produced RUB 118.3 billion worth of pharmaceutical drugs (manufacturer’s prices, VAT included), up 16.7% from January–February 2021. The result is quite comparable to that in the same period in 2021, when the growth rate in monetary terms was 16.9%. However, the growth rates in early 2022 were far from even, with 3.8% in January and 27.8% in February.

The export of pharmaceutical drugs from Russia in 2021 reached a new all-time high in both volume and growth rates. Most of the exported drugs were vaccines, a total of RUB 78.4 billion (customs duties included, EEU countries excluded). The export volume in monetary terms (rubles) increased almost 21 times compared to 2020, with the COVID vaccines contributing to the growth rates the most, as expected.

One of the anti-crisis measures prepared by the Government of the Russian Federation is the possibility to exempt from customs duties a number of “vital goods” imported into Russia, which may include pharmaceutical drugs and APIs. Customs duties, as part of the customs clearance procedure, are the main expense item of foreign economic activity participants. In 2021, for example, the importers of ready-made drugs paid RUB 18.5 billion in total.

In 2021, Russia imported RUB 36.7 billion worth of veterinary drugs (customs clearance and VAT included), up 7.2% from 2020, hardly comparable to that in 2019. As for feed supplements, the import volume was RUB 41.9 billion, and the growth rate was 4.3%.

Pharmaceutical Retail Expected to Deal with Rush Demand and New Consumer Preferences in the Upcoming Months