Latvian news portal lsm.lv – continuing on reports from LTV programme Panorāma, that several hundred Latvian business continue exporting their products to Russia – reports on JSC Grindeks increasing presence on this country’s market.
Opposite to claims from Grindeks and its manager Kirovs Lipmans, whose family is the main owner of this business, that Grindeks is gradually leaving the Russian market, this company’s annual account for last year shows that their sales
increased by 27% in 2022 when compared with results from 2021.
Sales grew from EUR 55.3 million to EUR 70.6 million. The share of revenue gained in Russia accounts for 27% of Grindeks’ total business (total turnover was EUR 259 million in 2022). Exports to Ukraine – and other CIS countries – is down, according to the news portal’s author Sergejs Petrovs. He adds that Grindeks market share in Russia has gone down in the past decade, because in 2013 it was 57%.
The company’s “bestseller” Mildronate (and locally produced analogues) remains freely available in pharmacies in Russia. This kind of drug increases motor activity and physical endurance. Various pro-Russian military blogs advertise this drug on their pages, recommending them to freshly mobilised troops or those sending aid to Russian forces in Ukraine.
In this particular case, as well as other Latvian businesses’ contacts with Russia, it is not about laws or EU sanctions – only the will to not lose market share, stresses lsm.lv.
Also read: LTV: some 307 Latvian businesses continue exporting goods to Russia