Russian pharmaceutical producers will lose from 1.5 billion to 1.7 billion rubles (over $30 million) in 2017, if Ukraine will impose sanctions on medicines from Russia. The calculations provided research firm RNC Pharma at the request of the edition RBC.
That the Ministry of health of Ukraine plans in the country to ban the registration and sale of drugs produced or even packaged and imported from Russia, at the end of March 2017, said the head of Ministry of health of Ukraine Ulyana Suprun.
RNC Pharma analysts noted that the volume of Russian medicines in Ukraine without taking into account the occupied districts of Donetsk and Lugansk regions in 2016 amounted to 2.1 billion rubles (over $37 million). The Ukrainian market is important for Russian manufacturers and is 7.7% of the total volume of export of medicines.
It is reported that before the annexation of Crimea and aggression Russia has supplied to Ukraine large amounts of medicines, and the share of the Ukrainian market accounted for slightly more than one-fifth of the total Russian exports.
In view of the reluctance of the Ukrainian authorities to reregister the Russian medicine in 2017 may be the most affected leading supplier to Ukraine – the company “Nizhfarm” (part of the international holding Stada), the company “Polisan” and “Materia Medica”.
Director of the company “Polysan” Eugene Kardash confirmed that the Russian producers have problems in Ukraine. He noted that in recent years the number of Russian companies, which supply medicines to the market, has decreased.
“Every two years, Ukraine needs to inspect the production and, on this basis, to confirm the GMP [Good Manufacturing Practice – a document on compliance with international standards for pharmaceutical production]. Now the Ukrainian authorities ignored Russian producers and not just come to them for verification. Because of this, they can’t put their products in the country,” said Kardash.
He stressed that Ukraine still remains an important market for Russia.
Deputy Director of the pharmaceutical company STADA CIS Ivan Glushkov told that another problem of the Ukrainian market was the reduction in volume caused by the division of the country and falling incomes.
Thus, according to RBC, the Russian supplies to the market in the occupied militants of the so-called “DNR” and “LNR” areas are growing. In 2014 it was supplied with drugs by about 7 million rubles (around $124 thousand), in 2015 — already at 2.7 billion rubles (more than $47,9 million), in 2016 – RUB 5.5 billion ($97.6 million). This is due to the fact that the occupied territory was cut off from the drugs that are supplied by international companies in Ukraine.
Russian companies have occupied the vacant market. The main exporters to are not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities in the regions of the Russian distributors of “Nanofarm”, “Interlek” and “Biopharma”. The producers do not tend to engage in self-supply in this region. Russian experts have suggested that supplies to some areas of Lugansk and Donetsk regions can compensate for the loss of Russian business due to problems with Ukraine.
4 APR Suprun announced that the team of the Ministry of health initiates the rejection of medicines of the Russian manufacture and was sent to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine a letter with a proposal to stop the supply of Russian medicines on the Ukrainian market. When can be made this decision is still unknown.
