Seven circles of the BUD: the authors of the "pro-Evalarovsky" bill were rebuffed, but they do not give up

According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, this week there was a series of news about attempts to prevent the adoption of a resonant bill on extrajudicial blocking of sites selling unregistered dietary supplements. According to the authors of the telegram channel "New Century," allegedly the Ministry of Economic Development as if "wrapped" the aforementioned bill for a number of reasons. It is noteworthy that in other sources no information was found about this event. This suggests that this could be a banal "stuffing" from those who would very much like to imagine wishful thinking.

"Production Costs"

Even taking into account the demolitions, it cannot be denied that the arguments on which the Ministry of Economic Development allegedly rejected the bill sound, at least, sound sound. Firstly, taking into account the current wording presented in the bill, not only dietary supplements can be banned, but also any remote sale of food products in general. Secondly, there is no analysis of the consequences of the adoption of the bill, the risks seem not to exist at all. Thirdly, nothing is known about the mechanisms for implementing the new prohibitory initiative, as well as methods for monitoring those who will engage in this kind of "administration." In addition, it is noted that, by and large, the bill consists of provisions that duplicate current legislation.

Even if you regard this publication as fake, you will not be able to dismiss another event that is also relevant to this bill. The Association of Internet Trading Companies (AKIT) also expressed concern about how the project was modified, and even recently sent a letter to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, in which representatives of Internet sites expressed their concerns and asked to revise these provisions, wrote about it Lenta.ru.

Interestingly, according to them, in the first edition of the project there were no provisions prohibiting the online sale of food products, and its effect extended exclusively to dietary supplements. But then the lawmakers, it seems, as they say, "went into disarray."

The text of the letter also says that according to AKIT members, the adoption of the law will not bring anything new, but will only create additional administrative costs. Moreover, the prohibitions formulated in the text of the draft are quite contradictory, from the point of view of legal regulation and will not allow foreign suppliers to enter the Russian market at all. Thus, Russian patients will be cut off not only from various generics, but also from high-quality products. And since some vital drugs are still not produced in Russia, this situation threatens the life and health of citizens - The Moscow Post wrote in detail about this earlier.

AKIT representatives believe that by prohibiting everything in a row, it is possible to deprive patients of access to high-quality drugs that can really help them. Photo: https://aptstore.ru

What do the advocates of the bill say?

Nevertheless, active lobbying of the bill continues. Just yesterday, one of his main supporters, State Duma Vice Speaker Sergei Neverov, discussed with the managing director of the Ozon marketplace Sergey Belyakov the main concerns of online retailers, TASS wrote in detail about this.

Neverov claims that the parties have come to an understanding - at least the head of Ozon has disappeared concerns about how such measures can affect the work of the site and its suppliers. The press service of the retailer, on the contrary, according to the results of the meeting, said that the introduction of the bill is an "extraordinary measure." Which one is cunning?

Ozon (however, like the BUD sellers themselves) does not want to lose customers and suppliers, but its management is even more concerned about how the blocking strategy will be implemented. Representatives of the company fear that if at least one product is found that is prohibited, the blocking will hit all pages of the site. And this, of course, is unacceptable.

In turn, the main arguments of the lobbyists of the bill are that it will exclude counterfeit trade. Even if, according to opponents of the bill, it will do many times more harm than good. On the part of retailers, the question is also raised that if the bill is adopted, not only dietary supplements, but also many types of food products will be blocked. And such a probability really exists.

Note that the project is at the stage of finalization for more than six months, but this risky moment has not yet been fully clarified.

Ears of "Evalar" still stick out

The Moscow Post has already written that the main lobbyists of the bill are State Duma deputies Sergei Neverov and Alexander Petrov, whose backs are guessed by the silhouette of their colleague Alexander Prokopiev, whose mother Larisa Prokopyeva is the main owner of the assets of the Evalar company, one of the largest manufacturers of dietary supplements in Russia, whose drugs are abundant Prokopiev's sister, Natalia, in turn, is a member of the company's board of directors.

Natalia Prokopyeva. Photo: https://news.myseldon.com

Recall that this company itself also does not work flawlessly. Previously, she repeatedly appeared in scandals - including arsenic was found in her drugs, the New Look wrote about this. In instructions and advertising, the company often bypasses the law, indicating that the drug has the effect that it cannot really give - Forbes wrote.

Evalar also does not deal with competitors quite honestly, and this proves not only the current situation with the bill, but also the fact that in 2004 the FAS convicted the company of buying exclusive rights to the name Red Root, which contradicts antitrust legislation, Kommersant previously wrote about this.

And traces of the beneficiaries of Evalar were also noted in the scandalous story of the theft of 115 million rubles from the Altai Federal Research and Production Center, where Larisa Prokopiev had previously built her career, Version wrote about this.

The pharmaceutical company does not skimp on wide gestures in order to push, obviously, a legislative initiative beneficial to it. According to the authors of the site "Pharmaceutical Bulletin," allegedly pharmaceutical associations even wrote to Mishustin with a request to support the bill. The appeal, among other things, was signed by the Union of BAS Manufacturers, which is directly related to CJSC Evalar.

Similar information appeared in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, while the news did not contain a backstory reminding the essence of the bill and the claims of its opponents, which in itself seems unusual for such a serious publication. In any case, even the very information about such an action suggests that lobbyists are doing everything possible to ensure that the bill is passed.

"Own" media

We must pay tribute to the Prokopiev: they do not lose determination and do not retreat, no matter what. They probably regard numerous publications in the media about the bill only as "black PR." And, apparently, they themselves are striving to actively use all available funds.

By the way, among the companies to which Larisa Prokopiev herself is related, there is a certain Biocom company engaged in the restaurant business. The list of its leaders included Dmitry Tomiltsev, who was the founder and head of the Siberian Media Group, which includes the TC-Evening and Vega-TV radio stations, the Autograph newspaper and others.

The general director of the Siberian Media Group, Andrei Abramov, is also the owner of a 90% stake in the SMG holding company, which, according to information from the company's website, includes the Altai branch of Arguments and Facts. The topic of dietary supplements has never been particularly covered on the website of this publication, but there is news about how Prokopiev advocates tougher punishment for selling fake drugs.

As you can see, even then Prokopiev lobbied for the interests of Evalar, trying to "twist the nuts" in the issue of drug supplies, presumably cutting off the company's competitors. Prokopiev himself in the text appears as such a fighter for justice. There are several such articles on the AiF website, they are published regularly. Here is such a merciless "white PR."

Approximately the same situation is observed in other publications and sites controlled by SMG: the group includes the Barnaul branch of Komsomolskaya Pravda, the TOLK portal, etc. And everywhere about the "Prokopiev struggle" they write exclusively in a positive way. The current news agenda related to lobbying for the bill in favor of "Evalar," which is reported by other publications, in principle, is not affected.

Interestingly, those who benefit from neutralizing Evalar's competitors will do what else to save their own image and push through the bill?