Russia and other CIS states hold out a great opportunity for Indian pharmaceutical products if exporters from India maintain high quality and adopt right marketing strategies, according to K Raghunath, Indian ambassador to Russian Federation.

Speaking at a seminar on "Past, Present and Future of Indian Pharmaceutical Business in Russian Federation," organized by Indian Business Alliance in Moscow on June 21, he said that the recent spurt in growth of Indian pharmaceuticals export to Russia is an indication of the Russian preference for Indian products.

Raghunath said that Russian health ministry is very particular about the quality of pharmaceutical products coming into this country and Indian pharmaceutical exporters should take utmost care to have no complaints about their products from the Russian distributors.

Another key advantage Indian pharmaceutical industry enjoys is the competitive prices as compared to European drug manufacturers who currently dominate the Russian market. It will not be difficult at all for Indian pharmaceutical companies to capture a good share of the 3 billion dollar-Russian market with their quality products and low prices in the near future, he added.

Presenting a paper on the sales structure of Indian pharmaceutical products in Russia, Nickolai Demidov, executive director of Pharmexpert, a leading Russian pharmaceutical market research company, said that in 2003 there has been a slight increase in the sales of OTC products by Indian companies. The OTC sales by Indian companies increased to 33 per cent from 30 per cent in the previous year. Prescription products continue to be the main area of Indian companies with 67 per cent of all sales in 2003.

Demidov said that among 10 major group of Indian products, expectorants recorded highest sales of 70.5 million US dollars in 2003.This was followed by cold preparations without anti-infectives with a sales of 63.4 million US dollars. Two other group of products recorded notable growth in sales are cerebral and peripheral vasotherapeutics and anti-rheumatics. Currently, some of the 10 group of Indian products dominate the Russian market are oral fluoroquinolones, acid pump inhibitors, tropical dermatological anti-fungals, mouth antiseptics and anti-infectives, he said.

Demidov pointed out that Indian companies have started active promotion of certain products like rifabutin, paclitaxel, chondroitin sulfate, loratadin and vinpocetine.

Speaking about Indian pharmaceutical scene, P A Francis, CEO and editor of Pharmabiz said that one of the main hurdles faced by the Indian pharmaceutical exporters to Russia is the long credit period after making their exports. A large number of Indian pharmaceutical companies do not have the financial muscle to hold on to a payment term exceeding six months and more. Secondly high registration fee of 20,000 dollars for one product and unusually long time taken for granting registration are also discouraging Indian exporters. He urged the Russian government to look into these issues and come out with remedial measures to give a big push Indo Russian trade in pharmaceuticals.

In his welcome remarks, Dhanesh Prasad, president of IBA said that despite a series of ups and downs, Indian pharmaceutical companies have been able to maintain their strong presence in Russian market. The success stories of Shreya Corporation, Intercare and Transatlantic in distribution segment and Dr.Reddy's, Ranbaxy and Unique in manufacturing segment are indeed quite encouraging, he said. Dhanesh called for a united approach by the distributor and manufacturing companies from India to project the right image of Indian pharmaceutical industry in Russia.