How Russia's Medicine Market Got Built After the USSR Fell
[THE REVIEW OF THE MONOGRAPH BY S. N. ZATRAVKIN, E. A. VISHLENKOVA AND F. V. GENIN "THE ONE'S GAME: THE HISTORY OF PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET IN RUSSIA" (MOSCOW: SHIKO; 2025. 480 p.)].
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Informal institutions were not just backups—they were central to the functioning of the pharmaceutical market.
Most assume that when formal systems fail, chaos follows. But here, informal networks didn’t just fill gaps—they became the backbone of the new industry.
Practical Takeaways
In times of supply chain collapse (e.g., war, sanctions, pandemics), communities may naturally develop informal distribution networks that are faster and more responsive than official ones.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Informal institutions were not just backups—they were central to the functioning of the pharmaceutical market.
Most assume that when formal systems fail, chaos follows. But here, informal networks didn’t just fill gaps—they became the backbone of the new industry.
Practical Takeaways
In times of supply chain collapse (e.g., war, sanctions, pandemics), communities may naturally develop informal distribution networks that are faster and more responsive than official ones.
Publication
Journal
Problemy sotsial'noi gigieny, zdravookhraneniia i istorii meditsiny
Year
2026
Authors
P. Ratmanov
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Claims (3)
After the Soviet Union fell apart, Russia ran out of many medicines, so people and businesses started making up their own ways to get drugs—like trading or buying on the black market. The authors say these unofficial systems, not just government rules, helped shape how medicine was sold and distributed in the 1990s.
This book about Russia's drug industry says it got its inside info from talking to dozens of people who worked in the business back in the 1990s — and no one else has used those same interviews before.
This book is the first to tell the full story of how Russia’s medicine industry rebuilt itself after the Soviet Union fell, showing how it went from chaos to a new market system.