Some believe that if websites selling dietary supplements are blocked, many people will be left without good quality drugs, but the Evalar corporation will make more money.
As per the correspondent The Moscow Post in Altai Krai, the ongoing situation involves advocating for a bill to block websites that sell dietary supplements. The recent update states that Deputy Sergei Neverov, who is pushing for this initiative, had to justify the bill, which is said to be aimed at stifling competition. This information was reported by TASS.
It's worth noting that the bill was introduced to the State Duma in June 2021. Sergey Neverov and Alexander Petrov proposed to block websites containing information about the sale of dietary supplements. Now, the authors suggest expanding the law to cover all food products, making dietary supplements less conspicuous.
However, the essence of the bill remains the same. If it is passed, all pages of websites selling dietary supplements will become inaccessible. Consequently, pharmacies will have to refrain from selling dietary supplements or remove them from the list of products available for home delivery without prescriptions. The co-authors of the project claim that they came up with it “to prevent scammers from selling counterfeit products in the market,” but few seem to believe in the sincerity of their words.
In reality, the adoption of the bill will mainly impact foreign companies – those without stores in Russia will lose the opportunity to sell products in the country. Russian small enterprises specializing in the production of dietary supplements (for instance, those based on beekeeping products), storing their goods in warehouses and operating through online orders, will also suffer.
Why are officials persistently promoting the bill, despite its obvious drawbacks? It's simple – the deputy Alexander Prokopiev and his family's business are connected to it. Prokopyev’s mother, Larisa Prokopyev, owns the major pharmaceutical company Evalar, which manufactures dietary supplements. You can find more about it in The Moscow Post .
Alexander Prokopiev
People's lives are in danger
The issue that may arise upon passing the law goes beyond the interests of specific companies. Without essential products for maintaining a healthy balance in the body, such as for diabetics, there's a risk. As an alternative, they may be offered dietary supplements from Evalar. However, these products have been compromised multiple times.
According to “A New Look”, arsenic was discovered in one of Evalar's products in 2016. There have been numerous other controversies surrounding the company, including those related to their competitive practices. Even the Antimonopoly Service has taken action against Evalar – information on this can be found on website departments. The prices for this company's products are not cheap, and with their increased monopoly position in the market after the law is passed, they may rise even further. All this is happening amid a shortage of high-quality medical drugs in Russia.
It is known that socially unprotected categories of citizens who need medicines regularly apply to the relevant departments for financial assistance, because there is a catastrophic lack of funds for medicines. Some go to rallies to draw attention to their problem – about how parents of children with disabilities in December 2018 spoke in 17 Russian cities, told “Kommersant”. Previously, HIV patients protested in connection with the “unbearable” prices for medicines – this was reported by IA “Moscow 24”.
Larisa Prokopieva
The situation of the last two years is also indicative, when, in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, people began to buy drugs all over the country – not only antibiotics were in short supply, but also ordinary hydrogen peroxide, which has disinfecting properties, and vitamin D, the lack of which affects the immune system. Wrote about it BBC in Russia. But if such drugs can at least still be purchased in our country, then there are drugs produced only abroad, and their complete ban is tantamount to a death sentence for those certain categories of patients.
In addition, Russia now has a very complicated procedure for registering foreign goods, which also affects the number of foreign pharmaceutical companies willing to cooperate with the country.
So it would be better if gentlemen officials and deputies promote projects that serve not to destroy competitors, but to facilitate the healing of compatriots.
What will really help improve the situation on the drug market?
Medicines need to be regulated from a completely different angle – in 2011 there was a glaring case when a patient in a psychiatric hospital died, presumably because he was treated with some kind of American-made medication, the use of which is prohibited in many countries. Wrote about it “Russian newspaper”, who found out along the way that analogues of this dangerous agent are also produced in Russia. At the same time, as they write “Vedomosti”, the illegal drug market worth hundreds of millions of rubles is flourishing in the country. Why not deal with this problem first?
… Meanwhile, by the way, the financial indicators of “Evalar” are steadily growing, but, apparently, this is not enough for businessmen.
Source: The Moscow Post
