The Objectives of the Belarusian Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry of the Republic of Belarus employs more than 8.0 thousand professionals of different levels of preparation and all with a wide range of skills. Each year, they are joined with additional 500 graduates, which creates a stable basis for a personnel inflow into new manufactories and segments of the industry. 

A comprehensive state program has been passed for the development of the pharmaceutical industry in the Republic of Belarus. According to this program, the share of locally produced medicines consumed in the country country will account for 50% by 2015 (in 2012 this indicator was 30.6% in monetary terms). 

The objectives of the Belarusian pharmaceutical industry for the period up to 2020 are as follows: 

• the creation of a modern research infrastructure for development and production of innovative pharmaceutical products, including reconstruction of existing enterprises and construction of modern production facilities that will meet international quality standards;
• cooperation with leading pharmaceutical manufacturers in organization of joint and foreign ventures.

The production of pharmaceutical products, as well as the pharmaceutical market has a positive dynamics: over the last four years the production has increased by 32% to 487 USD million. Positive dynamics in the production has been also observed in 2015 the production has increased by 38.5% as compared to 2014.

The amount of medicines produced in Belarus is 1.4 thousand, or 28.5% (in 2008, the amount of medicines produced in Belarus was 550 items). Pharmaceutical expenditure per capita in Belarus grew by 10% annually and amounted to just over 71 US dollars in 2014.

Belarus imported pharmaceutical products worth 610.7 USD million in 2015, including medicines worth 405.1 USD million. The average annual growth rate of imports in 2004-2014 amounted to 14%. But in 2015 it dropped by 25.3 %.

The geographical structure of import is quite diversified. The largest shares are from Germany (11.8%), Russia (11.3%), India (6.6%), USA (6.5%), France (6.2%), Hungary (5.5%), Italy (4.5%) and Austria (4.2%). In order to reduce dependence on import and increase domestic production, the Republic of Belarus has adopted the “State Program on development of import-substituting production of pharmaceutical substances, finished drugs and diagnostic tools for 2010-2014 and for the period until 2020”. According to this program, the share of domestic drugs in the Belarusian pharmaceutical market will reach 50% in value terms by the end of 2015. It should be noted that the domestic drugs captured 52.6% of the market in physical terms in 2015.

Implementation of the program of import substitution of the pharmaceutical industry is largely dependent on the raw materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients that are needed for medicine production, but that are not produced in Belarus. Thus, about 60 substances are synthesized in the country for the production of medicines and more than 800 are imported (2012 data). Generally, substances are bought in countries with a significant competitive advantage of the production costs, namely India, Pakistan and China. Since the production of substances is very expensive and based on scale effect, and also has a low marginality, it is more appropriate to produce finished pharmaceutical products (FPPs) in Belarus.

Exports of pharmaceutical products amounted to more than 142.7 million USD in 2015, decreased (by 12.1%) in relation to 2014. According to the data of 2015, the decline is observed in both exports and imports of pharmaceutical products. Thus, exports decreased by 12.1%, imports decreased by 25.3%. Geographical structure of exports reflects the impact of the EAEU countries ( 85.8% of the products are exported to the EAEU countries). More than 90% of export products are accounted for the CIS countries. The mass segment and low prices are the main competitive advantages of Belarusian medicines producers. The main share of Belarusian exports goes to state owned companies (90%). 48% is the share of exports in the whole volume of sales of products of republican unitary enterprise Belmedpreparaty, and 53% of joint stock company Borimed. Thus, the export share in the whole volume of sales of Belmedpreparaty products is 48%, Borimed- 58%.
 

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