Russian Ministry of Health might authorize selling medicinal drugs via Internet

On February 27, 2017, Russian Ministry of Health published a draft resolution „About distance retail sales of medicinal products for human use and medicinal products for veterinary use (except for narcotic and psychoactive medicinal drugs).“

According to the text of the Resolution, „distance retail sales are allowed for medicinal products for human use that are prescribed and not prescribed by health professionals, excluding the pharmaceuticals that are subject to strict record keeping and storage, pharmaceuticals that possess anabolic activity, and pharmaceuticals with volume concentration of ethyl alcohol exceeding 30%.“

Only conventional (offline) pharmacies will have right to sell medicinal drugs online using own official web-site, with only one website for each pharmacy. All web-sites that sell medicinal drugs will be included in a special register kept by Roszdravnadzor. Specialists with diploma in Pharmacy will be authorized to accept orders, to deliver and transfer the pharmaceuticals (both prescribed and over-the-counter drugs).

The Resolution might come into effect in October 2017.

Source