Another wave of consolidation processes was the highlight of May 2021 for the so-called “big” Russian retail. May saw three major transactions at once: Magnit is purchasing Dixy, Lenta is acquiring Billa, and finally a large association will be formed for by consolidating certain aspects of the activities of three regional retailers in Siberia and the Far East – Krasny Yar, Samberi and Slata.

The veterinary market in Russia kept stagnating between January and April 2021. The growth rate is only +1.7% in monetary terms, with the sales volume of 6.93 billion rubles (retail prices, VAT included). In fact, the growth rate was positive mostly due to inflation, while the sales in physical terms kept decreasing. The sales volume in physical terms amounted to 53.9 million minimum dosage units (MDU), down 8.5% from January–April 2020.

A reduction in market volumes was the highlight of early 2021 for the pharmaceutical industry. However, only retail has been on the decline so far. All the segments in the public sector has been showing double-digit growth rates, which helped the growth rates of the market on the whole, but the positive growth rates are only nominal, due to the inflation rate in the first quarter of 2021 being thrice as high as the growth rate.

In 2020, Russia imported 15.32 billion rubles worth of veterinary vaccines (customs clearance included) from foreign countries except the EEU member states, down 9.4% in monetary terms (rubles) from 2019, because the importers were using up their stocks made in late 2019. The import volume in physical terms amounted to 7.15 million units, or around 43.4 billion dosages. The growth rates are -23.3% in units and -23.1% in dosages.

Russia imported 0.09 billion rubles worth of veterinary vaccines and serums from the EEU countries in 2020 (wholesale prices, VAT excluded). However, most of the products were not manufactured by the EEU member states. Manufacturers from Belarus and Kazakhstan together accounted for only 0.8% of the total import volume, and Armenia and Kyrgyzstan did not ship veterinary vaccines to Russia in 2020 at all.

The total volume of API import to Russia reached an all-time high in 2020 in both monetary and physical terms, amounting to 14.4 thousand tons of APIs, worth 167.1 billion rubles (customs clearance and VAT included). The growth rates are +26.6% in monetary and +13% in physical terms.

Russian manufacturers produced 149.6 billion rubles worth of pharmaceutical drugs between January and March 2021 (manufacturer’s prices, VAT included), up 47% from the same period last year in monetary terms (rubles). While it is early to make predictions, it has been the highest growth rate in five years. The growth rate in physical terms (units) was +7%, with the production volume of 1.07 billion units. The growth rate was even lower, if calculated in MDUs (minimum dosage units), reaching 4.2%, with the production volume of 19.4 billion MDUs.

Russia imported 34.5 billion rubles worth of veterinary drugs in 2020 (customs clearance and VAT included), down 8.4% in monetary terms (rubles) from 2019. The seemingly negative growth rate was due to the high-base effect, since back in 2019, the market players had stocked up their warehouses to get ready for the upcoming regulatory changes. As for feed supplements, the import volume amounted to 40.2 billion rubles, with the growth rate of +10.5%.

At the first stage of the movement, more than 82% of all goods are shipped from distributors to the final destination, which is pharmacies, healthcare facilities and others. Pharmacies are, without a doubt, the main channel for the commercial market, accounting for more than 75% of the total volume of the first stage shipments. Another 5% are shipped to the warehouses of pharmacy chains, and then the goods are redistributed to specific points of sale by the pharmacy chain’s own logistics services.

Between January and February 2021, Russian manufacturers produced RUB 101.4 bln worth of pharmaceutical drugs (manufacturer’s prices, VAT included), which is in monetary terms (rubles) 61% higher than in 2020. The growth rate in physical terms (units) is a bit lower, +16%, with the production volume of 700 mln units. If calculated in minimum dosage units (MDU), the growth rate is only +2.4% and the production volume is 11.9 bln MDUs.