EU imports of Russian pharmaceuticals rise 18% in 2024 despite geopolitical tensions

Compared with the same month last year, the European Union imported significantly more pharmaceutical products from Russia in November 2024; the volume was nearly doubled. The total value of imports reached €4.5 million. Among them, medicines and vaccines were the most frequently purchased. From January to November 2024, Russia’s total pharmaceutical exports to the EU amounted to €38.8 million year-on-year, representing an 18% increase. This places Russia 23rd among European pharmaceutical suppliers; year after year its standing has improved. Where Swiss pharmaceutical companies rank first followed by US and UK ones whose rankings remain unchanged at all times.

It can be seen from the increase of Russian pharmaceutical exports to the EU that even though synonymously its political context was quite uncomfortable last year, this is surprising. In recent years, Western pharmaceutical companies have cut back their operations in Russia for many reasons, including geopolitics and regulation. Eligible for example, the major international pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly & Company, Bayer AG, Pfizer Inc., MSD K.K. (Commonly known for its trade-mark Intron A capsules), and Novartis International AG — American worldwide owner who owns a Swiss company.

Compared with other leading global pharmaceutical giants like Merck or Novartis which have lost contracts because of deteriorating conditions in themselves or their competitors, India’s pharmaceutical exports to Russia are growing India surpassed Germany as Russia’s largest provider of pharmaceutical products in 2023. In the same year, Indian manufacturers sent a total of 294 million packages to Russia, an increase by 3% over 2022 figures.

The EU’s approach to the growing importation of Russian pharmaceutical products might be influenced by several different factors, not least the need to balance the sources of that supply and the ready availability of reasonably priced medicines. However, none of this is particularly conducive to a financial hegemony and at the same time, it may serve as another source of problems for an EU that wants to respect its principle of supplying pharmaceutical products from Russia.

On the whole, the EU expanding its imports of Russian pharmaceuticals is an amalgam of inside and outside pressures. The underlying theme that this choice exemplifies however is capable self-control in the global pharmaceutical market, combining inner harmony with external relations and trade issues that involve world order.

Kazakhstan’s pharmaceutical production for the same period amounted to KZT 87.3bn (around $194.4mn). The country also exported medications, totaling $8.1mn in sales and 760 tons in volume, according to the State Revenue Committee’s operational data.