Russia and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on establishing mutual cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector, Trend news agency reported. The agreement was signed in the Andijan region of Uzbekistan during a meeting of the regional governor with the CEO of Russian company Medsintez.
According to the report, the two sides discussed a number of issues, such as the establishment of the Dialysis Center in Andijan and construction of a factory for the production of infusion solutions, insulin, solid and liquid medicines.
The pharmaceutical agreement is seen as a further development of economic ties between the two former Soviet republics. The trade turnover between Russia and Uzbekistan grew by 25.1 percent from January to October 2017 and amounted to $2.8 billion.
A significant contribution to the development of trade between countries in 2017 was made by the intensification of Russian-Uzbek cooperation at the regional level. During the year, 24 business missions took place, in which representatives of about 200 Russian companies from 30 regions of Russia took part, Uzbek media report.
In the next two years, Russia and Uzbekistan plan to bring the trade turnover up to $10 billion.
The pharmaceutical industry in Russia had a turnover of $16.5 billion in 2016, which was equal to 1.3 % of GDP and 19.9% of health spending.
The Russian healthcare system is funded by the federal government, social spending, and the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund. However, the industry expects a big shift towards the private healthcare spending.
Russia is a net importer of pharmaceuticals, importing $8.9 billion while exporting $635 million of medicines. Close to 80% of imports come from Europe, mostly from Germany and France.
In recent years, the Russian government has been focused on creating its own pharmaceutical industry, outlining the plans for this in a document called “Pharma 2020 Strategy”. Its main goal is to reduce the reliance of the Russian economy on imported pharmaceuticals. In July 2016, Prime Minister Medvedev said that he expects the domestic production to increase from 28.5% now to 75% by 2020.
