Between January and February 2018, Russia imported 14.9 bln RUB worth of APIs (free circulation prices, VAT included), which is in monetary terms 45% higher than that of the same period of 2017. In physical terms, Russia imported 1,760,000 tons of APIs, which is 9% higher than that of the same period of 2017.

Between January and February 2018, Russia imported 70.4 bln RUB worth of ready-made pharmaceutical drugs and 14.1 bln RUB worth of in-bulk drugs (free circulation prices), which is in monetary terms 10.2% higher and 3.1% lower than that of the same period of 2017, respectively. In total, the dynamics for the period are 7.7%.

In 2011, the post-Soviet countries started to build a single customs zone. As a result, the transport control was placed on the external borders of the member countries, and the domestic transportation of products became untraceable. In 2017, Russia imported 8.4 bln RUB worth of pharmaceutical drugs manufactured in the EEU countries (wholesale prices), which is in monetary terms 9.1% higher than that of 2016. In physical terms, Russia imported nearly 212 mln units of drugs, which is 3.5% lower than that of 2016.

In January 2018, Russia imported 4.7 bln RUB worth of APIs (free circulation prices, VAT included), which is in monetary terms 7% lower than that of January 2017. In physical terms, Russia imported nearly 860 tons of APIs, which is 18% higher than that of January 2017.

In January 2018, Russia imported 1.9 bln RUB worth of feed supplements (free circulation prices), which is in monetary terms 13% lower than that of January 2017, 1.3 bln RUB worth of veterinary drugs, which is 3% higher than that of January 2017, and 200 mln RUB worth of veterinary APIs, which is as much as 62% higher than that of January 2017.

In January 2018, Russia imported 30.6 bln RUB worth of ready-made drugs (free circulation prices), which is in monetary terms 1.5% higher than that of January 2017, and 6.5 bln RUB worth of in-bulk drugs, which is 4.4% lower than that of January 2017.

Between January and February 2018, Russian manufacturers dispatched 46.9 bln RUB worth of pharmaceutical drugs (dispatch prices, VAT included), which is in monetary terms 1.3% lower than that of the same period of 2017. In physical terms, Russia produced nearly 670 units of drugs, which is 4.9% lower than that of the same period of 2017. The production of over-the-counter drugs has fallen by 9.5%, while the Rx category has a 3.8% growth.

The begging of 2018 was quite eventful for the Russian pharmaceutical wholesale. First, the bankruptcy process of Rosta started in January, with a rather high level of debt overburden for the pharmaceutical retail, which is estimated to be 10-11% of the annual volume of the retail market by Protek. So, the external prosperity of wholesale companies (by the end of 2017, only 4 out of the 15 largest companies has had their market share reduced) can be replaced by a recession at any moment.

The new year for the Russian pharmaceutical industry did not start that well. In January, Russia dispatched 22 bln RUB worth of pharmaceuticals (dispatch prices, VAT included) to the market, which is in monetary terms 3.4% lower than that of January 2017. The growth rates in physical terms are even worse, with a 7.2% decline and 0.29 bln units. The decline was largely due to over-the-counter drugs, with a 13% decline over the year. The dispatch of the Rx category has risen by 4%, though.

At the beginning of the year, pharmaceutical drug sale in non-pharmaceutical stores was once again one of the central topics for the Russian pharmaceutical industry. The industry professionals made an unambiguous assessment of the initiative, which could have called it quits. However, the regulators had other ideas. In December 2017, a draft federal law was submitted for public discussion.