Russia’s Pilot for Online Sale of Prescription Drugs Expired in March 2026. What Pharmacies Need to Know
Three regions, three years, and a promise to roll out the mechanism nationwide if successful. This was the plan when distance trade in prescription drugs launched in Russia in 2023. The industry awaited final metrics and a decision on scaling. However, 1 March 2026 passed quietly: the legal provision upon which the entire experiment rested expired on schedule, and the Ministry of Health published no consolidated results in open sources.
While the fate of the pilot project remains unclear, the pharmaceutical market received another piece of digital news. On 1 July 2026, mandatory verification of electronic prescriptions at the checkout counter went live in pharmacies, whereas the idea of selling medicines through Russian Post branches lost its legislative footing at the final stage of passing a related law. All three storylines are united by the common thread of digitalization. Beyond that, their paths diverge.
How the Prescription Drug Online Sales Experiment Was Structured
The starting point was Federal Law No. 405-FZ of 20 October 2022 (hereinafter, Law No. 405-FZ), which supplemented Federal Law No. 61-FZ of 12 April 2010 «On the Circulation of Medicines» (hereinafter, Law No. 61-FZ) with Article 55.1. This provision introduced a three-year experiment for distance retail trade in prescription drugs, running from 1 March 2023 to 1 March 2026. Geographically, it was limited to three federal subjects: Moscow, the Moscow Region, and the Belgorod Region.
The procedure for conducting the experiment was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 292 of 22 February 2023 (hereinafter, Decree No. 292). It defined the participants: pharmacy and medical organizations selected by authorized regional bodies, holding a pharmaceutical license for at least one year and a permit from Roszdravnadzor for distance trade.
The product assortment was approved by Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 36n of 1 February 2023 (hereinafter, Order No. 36n). The list included 904 International Nonproprietary Names (INNs) across various therapeutic groups, including antibiotics, antidiabetic drugs, and antihypertensives. Part 2 of Article 55.1 explicitly excluded from the experiment:
Medicines containing narcotic and psychotropic substances and their precursors;
Potent substances;
Radiopharmaceutical and immunobiological medicinal products;
Medicines requiring storage temperatures below 15°C;
Alcohol-containing preparations with an ethanol volume fraction exceeding 25%;
Medicinal products compounded directly by pharmacy organizations;
Medicines dispensed to privileged categories of citizens free of charge or at a discount financed by the budget.
Part 8 of Article 55.1 obliged the pharmacy, upon delivery, to verify the identity of the recipient against the data specified in the prescription or against the details of an authorized representative. This requirement became one of the main operational barriers: some buyers simply did not have the necessary identification documents on hand at the moment of order delivery.
Demand for the new format turned out to be modest. During the first seven months of the experiment, Roszdravnadzor issued only 26 distance trade permits for prescription (Rx) drugs to pharmacy organizations. A year later, market players noted low consumer interest in the service, whereas online sales of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs were growing several times faster: according to AlphaRM, online sales of OTC products rose by 21% in 2023, while offline sales grew by only 6%.
What Is Known About the Fate of the Experiment After 1 March 2026
| Parameter | Before (1 March 2023 – 1 March 2026) | Status (After 1 March 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Legal Basis | Article 55.1 of Law No. 61-FZ, Decree No. 292 | Article 55.1 expired according to its own statutory timeline |
| Geography | Moscow, Moscow Region, Belgorod Region | No active regional program found |
| Drug Assortment | 904 INNs under Order No. 36n | The list lost its legal basis along with the article |
| Scaling Decision | Expected based on trial results | No public decision or official report discovered |
Formally, Article 55.1 of Law No. 61-FZ expired on the date set by the law itself. Neither a separate law extending the experiment nor a rule expanding the mechanism to other regions was identified as of the date of preparing this article. Back in the autumn of 2025, MPs from the «New People» party suggested that the Ministry of Health prepare a regulatory framework to transition online Rx sales to a permanent nationwide basis immediately following the pilot’s conclusion. However, the adoption of such a law has not been confirmed.
Mandatory Electronic Prescriptions Launched on 1 July
While the status of the pilot remains open, a related reform came into effect. Starting 1 July 2026, pharmacy cash registers across the country are connecting to the system for monitoring the movement of medicinal products. Upon selling a prescription drug, the checkout system checks for a valid electronic prescription issued in the buyer’s name. The legal basis for these changes includes Federal Law No. 528-FZ of 29 December 2025 (hereinafter, Law No. 528-FZ) and Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 89 of 1 February 2026 (hereinafter, Decree No. 89).
Antibiotics, psychotropic and narcotic substances, potent analgesics, and hormonal medications were the first to fall under control. The Ministry of Health does not rule out expanding this list further. In pilot regions, physicians are already issuing prescriptions within a unified medical information system, where every prescription receives a unique identifier instead of the customary paper form.
This reform is independent of Article 55.1 and does not replace the distance trade experiment. It governs the dispensing of medicines in physical pharmacies and serves a different purpose: cutting off any possibility of selling prescription drugs without a confirmed medical order. For regulatory affairs managers, this forms part of a single broader picture: while distance trade development is paused, oversight over prescription drug circulation is tightening at the physical, offline retail level.
Russian Post Will Not Sell Medicines
A third storyline concerned drug accessibility in rural areas. In January 2026, the Ministry of Health submitted a draft decree for public discussion. The document allowed Russian Post branches to store and sell 132 essential medicines in locations lacking pharmacies. Postal employees were expected to complete a minimum of 72 hours of additional training, and the provision itself was incorporated into a bill supporting Russian Post prepared by the Ministry of Digital Development.
Pharmacy associations opposed the initiative. Their primary argument was that the initial version of the bill permitted postal branches to sell OTC medicines without holding a pharmaceutical license, making it impossible to verify compliance with temperature control and other storage conditions.
By June 2026, the provision regarding the sale of medicines was completely removed from the final text. The State Duma passed the law supporting Russian Post without this clause. The Ministry of Digital Development clarified that the topic might be revisited later via subordinate regulations, though the agency named no specific timeline.
Mobile Pharmacies Are a Separate Pilot for Rural Areas
Another pilot project, sometimes confused with distance trade, is focused on medicine availability in remote settlements. Federal Law No. 125-FZ of 2 May 2026 added Article 55.2 to Law No. 61-FZ, initiating a three-year experiment for selling medicines via mobile pharmacy units, running from 1 September 2026 to 1 September 2029. This entails selling drugs out of vehicles equipped as mobile pharmacies in villages lacking stationary outlets. This provision bears no relation to distance trade in prescription drugs or Article 55.1.
Action Items for Companies
Verify the status of your pharmacy chain’s permits. If your organization participated in the experiment under Article 55.1, request official confirmation from Roszdravnadzor as to whether the issued permit remains valid after 1 March 2026.
Configure checkout software to meet the requirements of Law No. 528-FZ. Confirm with your POS software vendor and fiscal data operator their readiness to validate electronic prescriptions for antibiotics, psychotropic, narcotic, hormonal drugs, and potent analgesics.
Re-evaluate regional distribution strategies for rural territories. Given the abandonment of the Russian Post initiative and the 1 September 2026 start of the mobile pharmacy experiment, assess which channel aligns best with your product portfolio.
Monitor publications from the Ministry of Health and Roszdravnadzor regarding pilot outcomes. An official report could be released at any time and will determine whether distance trade in Rx drugs returns to the regulatory landscape, and in what form.
Document open issues on your company’s internal regulatory roadmap. The lack of clarity around Article 55.1 directly impacts e-commerce strategic planning for prescription drug portfolios entering 2027.
Distance trade in prescription medications has stalled without official explanation. Conversely, prescription verification at the register has become mandatory nationwide. For regulatory managers, this implies that the digitalization of the pharmaceutical market is moving along several parallel tracks, requiring each to be monitored independently.
Regulatory Framework
1. Federal Law No. 61-FZ of 12 April 2010 «On the Circulation of Medicines», Article 55.1
2. Federal Law No. 405-FZ of 20 October 2022 «On Amendments to the Federal Law ‘On the Circulation of Medicines’»
3. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 292 of 22 February 2023 «On Approval of the Regulations on the Procedure for Conducting an Experiment on the Retail Trade of Prescription Medicinal Products for Medical Use by Distance Selling»
4. Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 36n of 1 February 2023 «On Approval of the List of Medicinal Products and Pharmacotherapeutic Groups of Medicinal Products Authorized for Sale Within the Framework of the Experiment»
5. Federal Law No. 528-FZ of 29 December 2025 «On Amendments to the Federal Law ‘On the Circulation of Medicines’»
6. Federal Law No. 125-FZ of 2 May 2026 «On Amendments to the Federal Law ‘On the Circulation of Medicines’», Article 55.2