Russian Drug Industry "Has No Future"

The owner and head of the Russian drug company Ferane says he sees nofuture for the domestic pharmaceutical industry "the way things are" and has admitted he would be prepared to sell his company "if the offer was good."

Vladimir Bryntsalov says the Russian drug market is now "ruled by transcontinental foreign companies that buy out Russian enterprises for a song." Domestic producers are left to their own devices with no significant legal or state support.

He says domestic drug production is crippled by a wrong policy on taxes. These swallow whatever profits are earned, leaving producers with no incentive to continue let alone expand their businesses. The government must regulate price formation and do everything to raise industry wages at the expense of private-sector profits.