Russia sees decline of drug sales for first time since 2006

Sales of drugs in Russia during the period of January - March of the current year fell by 10% compared to the same period of 2015, to 270.3 billion roubles ($4.09 billion), which became the worst result for the Russian pharmaceutical market since the beginning of the 2000s, according to recent data, provided by the Russian Ministry of Health.

This became the first sales’ drop for the last 10 years. In volume terms, the market also dropped by 14% to 1.18 billion packs, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

According to Ministry of Health experts, the current situation in the market reflects plans of Russian customers to save on further drug purchases. Sales of drugs in Russia declined for the second consecutive quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2015 they fell by 9% in value and by nearly 17% in volume terms.