FAS uncovers cartel in procurement of vital and essential drugs worth 1.1 billion rubles

The investigation began in December 2024, when the FAS opened a case on violation of antimonopoly legislation and transferred it to the Department for Combating Cartels and Control of Closed Purchases. Already in January 2025, the service reported on the identified signs of a cartel agreement in the supply of medicines in 54 regions of the country, including contracts under the national project "Healthcare". At that time, the preliminary amount of the initial prices of the contracts was estimated at 1.058 billion rubles. In the same month, a ruling was issued on the appointment of the case for consideration, in which the Moscow company Primafarm and Irkutsk Profarm were listed as defendants.

In April 2025, the FAS conducted an on-site unscheduled inspection, the results of which confirmed stable financial and economic ties between the companies and their use of a single infrastructure for participation in tenders. The agency established a coordinated model of behavior, expressed in the refusal to compete when participating in electronic auctions. Based on the analysis, the commission came to the conclusion that the companies' actions violated paragraph 2, part 1, article 11 of the Law "On Protection of Competition". That same spring, the Primafarm company was involved in another unscheduled inspection by the FAS, also conducted in relation to Pharmstandard and CV Protek. The matter concerned possible violations in the procurement of medicines for the Federal Center for Planning and Organization of Drug Supply of the Ministry of Health.

The FAS emphasized that the Primafarm and Profarm cartel affected the supply of medicines, including those included in the list of vital and essential drugs and intended for citizens entitled to state social assistance. The customers included regional health ministries and state clinics. The purchases that became the subject of the investigation included supplies of antitumor and immunosuppressant drugs, including bicalutamide, zincalcet, methotrexate, mycophenolate mofetil and chlorambucil.

Following the review, the antimonopoly agency found the companies to have violated the law. The violators face turnover fines under the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, and the case materials will be sent to law enforcement agencies to decide on initiating a criminal case.

The Primafarm company was registered in Moscow in 2019. Its revenue in 2024 was 16.3 billion rubles. The Profarm company was registered in Irkutsk in 2012, its revenue for 2024 is 2.12 billion rubles. According to SPARK, the head of both companies is Oleg Parshin. The sole beneficiary of Profarm LLC is Vikram Punia, and of Primafarm LLC is Nikita Punia. Both companies are engaged in the wholesale trade of pharmaceutical products.