Russia imports 24% less medicines in Jan-Feb
MOSCOW. April 7 (Interfax) - Russia imported $1.439 billion worth of various medicines in January-February, 24% less year-on-year, the Federal Customs Service (FCS) said.
Imports from countries outside the CIS were down 20% at $1.417 billion, while imports from CIS countries surged 70% to $21.5 million.
Russia imported $12.3 million worth of antibiotics, down 34.6%. Imports from non-CIS countries were down 35.9% at $11.8 million. The CIS exported $500,000 worth of products to Russia, up 25%.
According to the FCS, pharmaceuticals imports have been declining since the beginning of the year. In January, medication imports fell 19%, and antibiotic imports - 28%. Last year, pharmaceutical imports grew as a whole.
Nikolai Demidov, the head of marketing company IMS Health in Russia and the CIS, said imports demonstrated decline for two reasons. First, there was a flu epidemic in Russia in the first half of last year, which is why foreign companies imported more medicines then.
Additionally, imports are affected by decline in the growth rate of the Russian pharmaceuticals market. Demidov said that because of this, foreign pharmaceuticals companies are lowering import volumes and reviewing their policies for managing stocks of medicines.