Russian government may lift duties on imports of pharmaceutical substances

The Russian government plans to provide subsidies for the production of pharmaceutical substances for leading national drugmakers this year, according to Alexander Petrov, member of the Committee on Health of the Russian State Duma.

According to Mr Petrov, the current situation in the national pharmaceutical substances market is very complex, which is mainly due to its high import dependence, which is estimated at 90%.

In order to stabilize the current situation, the Russian State Duma (Parliament) is considering abolishing duties on the imports of pharmaceutical substances to the country. In addition, there is a proposal to refuse further dollar payments between Russia and China, in order to minimize dependence on currency fluctuations. The latter move is especially important, taking into account the current status of China of one of the world’s largest producers of pharmaceutical substances.