Finnish company Orion Pharma starts liquidating its Russian office

ECONOMICHNA PRAVDA; OLEKSII PAVLYSH  — THURSDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2022, 10:42 

Orion Pharma, a Finnish company, has started liquidating its Russian office.  They are planning to close it by the end of 2022. 

The Moscow-based business newspaper Vedomosti reported the closure, citing a source familiar with the company’s plans.

According to the source, the company is currently laying off employees of its local office. Another source, close to the top management of Orion Pharma, has confirmed this information. 

The newspaper notes that the largest recruiting service companies, HeadHunter and SuperJob, do not have any open vacancies at the Russian office of the Finnish company. 

Orion Pharma has been operating in the Russian Federation for 15 years. In 2021, the company was at 98th place among the biggest pharmaceutical companies, according to the DSM Group. In 2022, it climbed to 90th place.

The income of the company’s Russian department for 2021 was 4,700,000,000 roubles [approximately US$76,267,793 - ed.], up 45% in comparison with the previous year. Net profit for the same period was 121,600,000 roubles [approximately US$1,973,226 - ed.], compared to 129,700,000 roubles [approximately US$2,104,666] a year earlier.

The main medication produced by this company is Metypred, intended for treating rheumatoid arthritis. 

"If Orion Pharma closes its office in Russia, it will be the first known case of a foreign pharmaceutical company leaving our country. Sergei Glagolev, the Deputy Minister of Health of Russia, said on 17 October that no foreign stakeholder in this industry has left Russia. The experts interviewed by the newspaper also did not mention any cases when a foreign pharmaceutical company closed its Russian office or fully stopped supplies," the Vedomosti article stated.

At the moment, Orion Pharma imports medicines to Russia. Delivery volume has not increased significantly over the year; on the contrary, it has started to decline, said a representative of [the Russian market analysis firm for the pharmaceutical sector -ed.] RNC Pharma.

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