The problem of import dependence in the Russian pharmaceutical market

For many years the domestic pharmaceutical market, being a part of the world pharmaceutical market, remained highly dependent on imports. This was expressed in the fact that only about 20-30% of drugs circulating on the market were of domestic origin, while the overwhelming share was imported. The deterioration of the foreign policy and economic situation in 2014 showed the importance of building up the domestic scientific and industrial-production potential in the pharmaceutical industry in order to increase the level of self-sufficiency in medicines and solve the problem of import dependence, which in conditions of unfavorable political scenarios can threaten the national security of Russia. The study assesses the trends in the level of import dependence in the Russian pharmaceutical market and its main segments in the period since the beginning of the economic crisis. It has been revealed that despite the formation of the strategic task to reduce import dependence in the pharmaceutical industry of the Russian Federation, positive results in this area have been outlined only in the last 2 years. Thus, in 2020, in the total value structure of sales on the market the share of imports decreased from 70% to 56% for the first time in many years, and in the structure of sales of drug packages the share of imports decreased from 39% to 31%. Noting the changes in the pharmaceutical market of the Russian Federation since the beginning of the sanctions, we can highlight the fact that the market took about 5 years to start implementing the task of import substitution in the pharmaceutical sector. At the same time, given the insufficient level of development of the country’s domestic potential in the pharmaceutical industry, the only possible solution at this stage was the localization of foreign production in the country.