MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Sales of domestic pharmaceuticals in Russia have surpassed sales of imported drugs in Russia for the first time in many years, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Thursday in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.

"First off, I would like to inform you about the fast-tracking of pharmaceutical registration procedures; they have been accelerated significantly. We registered 940 new domestic pharmaceuticals and over 3,000 new medical products. Twenty five essential drugs were completely localized. For the first time in many, many years <...> growth in sales of domestic medical products exceeds the pace of sales for imported ones. The pharmaceutical industry is now growing at a rate of 10.6%," the Prime Minister said.

Russia had no raw materials for medical products as early as in 2022, while six plants are now making medical steel, eleven plants are producing medical grade glass, and plastics for medical products are being made in Nizhnekamsk and Kazan, Mishustin added.