|
 No Indian company has publicly withdrawn from Russia and New Delhi
has declined to condemn Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, despite
pressure from the United States to do so. Western companies such as
McDonald's, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Starbucks have stopped sales of
their best-known products in Russia.
"We have had a presence in the region for over three decades," a Dr.
Reddy's spokesperson said in an email.
"Ensuring the well-being of our staff is our first and foremost
priority, along with measures to meet patient needs and business
continuity. Overall, we are monitoring evolving developments closely
and preparing accordingly."
It declined to say if it would raise or scale back investments in
Russia, which accounted for more than 8% of its total sales of 189.7
billion rupees ($2.47 billion) in the last fiscal year that ended on
March 31.
Dr Reddy's, India's fourth-biggest pharmaceutical company by market
value, sells pain killers and other medicines in Russia. It is the
main distributor in India for Russia's Sputnik COVID-19 vaccines.
Executives at Indian pharma companies Torrent Pharmaceuticals and
Zydus Lifesciences said they saw little or no impact on sales due to
the Ukraine conflict.
But the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA) told Reuters
that prices of raw materials derived from benzene or other petroleum
products would rise due to the war, and pharmaceutical exporters
would have to seek buyers elsewhere.
[to top of second column] |
 "Overall demand for medicines will not go down,
but there may be a temporary disruption," said
IDMA President Viranchi Shah.
"The problematic thing is managing payments from Russia" because of
Western sanctions. "It will take some time to be addressed as an
alternate mechanism will be required to be put in place," he said.
An Indian government official, who declined to be named, said the
country was confident of finding alternative markets for its
pharmaceutical industry if needed.
At $173.7 million, pharmaceuticals accounted for 30% of India’s
total exports to Ukraine between April and December last year. Sales
to Russia during the period reached $386 million, or 15% of the
total shipments to the country.
The Indian embassy says there are an estimated 300 Indian companies
in Russia, most of them involved in trading tea, coffee, tobacco,
pharmaceuticals, rice, spices, leather footwear, granite, I.T.
services and garments.
($1 = 76.8050 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and
Louise Heavens)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
