In volume terms, the Russian pharmacy retail sector closed 2025 on a strong note. December set an absolute record in terms of growth dynamics: value sales of medicines increased by more than 24% compared with December 2024. At the same time, demand for parapharmaceutical products in pharmacies continues to reach new lows. In the final month of 2025, their share fell to an all-time minimum of 17.1% in value terms. Just three years ago, such a development would have seemed unlikely — non-medicinal products accounted for nearly a quarter of pharmacy revenue, and market participants were actively expanding this category.

The rapid expansion of marketplaces has become a major obstacle. The issue now is no longer about developing the parapharmaceutical segment, but rather about preserving its role in the profitability structure of Russian pharmacies. E-commerce players continue to strengthen their position in this area. A symbolic development for pharmaceutical retail was the transition of Anastasia Karpova and several other top managers from the Erkafarm Group to RVB (the merged company Wildberries & Russ). Against this backdrop, the long-discussed issue of allowing the sale of medicines in Russian Post offices appears to have been effectively resolved, although in terms of overall impact on retail it remains relatively minor.

By contrast, an initiative by State Duma deputy Sultan Khamzaev has attracted considerable attention. He proposed banning the sale of energy drinks in non-specialized retail outlets and granting exclusive rights to pharmacies. The annual size of the energy drink market, by rough estimates, exceeds RUB 300 billion (at retail prices, including VAT), with value growth of around 20% per year. For comparison, total pharmacy revenue from all parapharmaceutical categories in 2025 amounted to RUB 456 billion. Such an addition to pharmacy turnover could offset industry profitability challenges for years to come. The issue concerns not only retail margins, but also the marketing budgets of major beverage producers such as Baltika, Multon Partners (Coca-Cola), PepsiCo, and others.

While the prospects appear significant, such regulatory changes are unlikely in the near term. Given the potential losses for grocery retail, the category would almost certainly become the subject of intense lobbying at the highest level. In the meantime, pharmacy chains must address profitability challenges today. Large networks have identified one potential lever by expanding their marketing services to include television advertising.

Specifically, pharmacies are testing a co-promotion format in which a television commercial for a particular brand is accompanied by an invitation to purchase the product at a specific pharmacy chain. The format is currently being piloted on cable channels by several Western manufacturers. For Russian pharmaceutical retail, this could represent a substantial opportunity to strengthen the OTC segment — provided that the marketing approach proves scalable.

Table. Ranking of pharmacy chains and alliances by share of the Russian retail-commercial pharmaceutical market in 2025

*DLO – Additional Drug Provision (public reimbursement segment)