The Russian pharmaceutical industry is one of the sectors of the Russian economy, which offers great potential to Western investors on the one hand, but on the other hand can only be accessed by foreigners in an extremely difficult way. Industry-specific know-how and knowledge of legal regulations are therefore decisive factors for successful business activities in this area.
The Russian pharmaceutical industry in particular has made special demands on foreign companies since the introduction of the “Pharma2020” programme. The Russian government has made it its top priority to make Russia independent of imports of foreign pharmaceutical products. Accordingly, the importation of numerous foreign medicines is prohibited and thus considerably hinders access to the Russian market for foreign companies. This applies in particular to preparations classified as “life-sustaining”, 90% of which should be produced locally by 2020. However, the share of other medicines is also expected to be produced to a large extent within national borders, which presents foreign manufacturers with new challenges.
As in many other industries and sectors of the Russian economy, companies that are active in the pharmaceutical industry and do not want to lose their large sales market to local competitors need to localize. Either in the form of its own subsidiary and in-house production facilities in the country, or through contract manufacturing partnerships with Russian companies.