Switzerland: Swiss pharmaceutical exports to Russia on the rise
Headquarters of Novartis. Over the past twelve months, Swiss pharmaceutical exports to Russia have reached a record level (illustration image). Reuteurs/Arnd Wiegmann
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Strong rebound for Swiss pharmaceutical exports to Russia. According to federal customs, as of February 2023, year-on-year they have increased by 40% since the conflict in Ukraine. Reminder: medicines are considered humanitarian products and therefore exempt from Western sanctions.
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It is Switzerland above all that benefits from this regulation, which exempts medicines from Western sanctions vis-à-vis Russia. Because the Swiss pharmaceutical industry is its main export sector. Over the past twelve months, Swiss pharmaceutical exports to Russia have reached a record level: more than two billion dollars. Before the war, they amounted to one and a half billion.
Stored medicines
There are several reasons for this increase: Russians have consumed more medicines, resuming their medical care after the Covid-19 pandemic. Another reason: patients and hospitals have also stockpiled many medicines, to anticipate possible supply problems, following the war in Ukraine.
The Russian subsidiaries of Roche and Novartis
A situation that benefits the Swiss groups Roche and Novartis, which have subsidiaries in the country. Russia is only Switzerland's 23rd largest trading partner. Last year, Swiss exports to Moscow amounted to USD 3.2 billion.
► Read also: War in Ukraine: Switzerland aligns itself with the sanctions decided by Brussels (28 February 2022
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- Switzerland
- Russia
- Trade and Commerce
- Industry
- Health and medicine