When it comes to looking good, Russian women are happy to spend money, even on a bit of cosmetic surgery.
But Western sanctions following Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine mean supplies of products like Botox and breast implants – which are largely imported from countries like the United States and Germany – could become increasingly difficult to come by.
Anastasia Yermakova, 37, is worried: In February she had Botox (botulinum toxin) injected to reduce facial wrinkles.
“My beautician assures us that she still has Botox in stock,” she told AFP.
“But I’m concerned,” she said, arguing that local Botox replacements are of inferior quality.
Russia ranks ninth in the world in the number of aesthetic surgeries performed annually — 621,600 in 2020, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
And Russia’s aesthetic medicine sector was worth $969 million in 2021, up two percent year-on-year, according to Russian consultancy Amiko.
Shortly after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, the US drugmaker AbbVie, which is behind Botox for wrinkle treatment, withdrew from the thriving Russian market over “tragic events” in Ukraine.
As a result, Botox stocks are “melting,” Yuliya Frangulova, co-founder of the National Association of Aesthetic Medicine Clinics, told AFP.
Frangulova said this is “a concern for clinic managers who are accustomed to using this reference product.”
– ‘Say goodbye to fillers’ –
“In March we saw panic among patients, doctors and suppliers,” said Oksana Vlasova, director of development at Grandmed beauty clinic in Russia’s second-largest city, Saint Petersburg.
“Demand exploded, Botox stocks ran out.”
In April and May there were no Botox imports at all, said Nikolay Bespalov of RNC Pharma, who analyzes the Russian pharmaceutical market.
He hopes deliveries can resume “towards the end of the summer”.
Russians are also running out of some western-made facial fillers, particularly hyaluronic acid injections for lip plumping — a very popular procedure in the country.
“We are also forced to say goodbye to AbbVie fillers,” Vlasova said, hoping European manufacturers can fill the gap.
The procurement of breast implants is also becoming increasingly difficult – due to the lack of Russian manufacturers.
All breast implants in Russia are imported, with industry estimates 60 percent coming from the United States and 13 percent from Germany.
The sanctions are not aimed at the delivery of implants, but the disrupted logistics and other factors affected both breast reconstruction and aesthetic surgeries.
In March, implant prices tripled before stabilizing at levels 20 percent higher than before Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine began, plastic surgeon Evgeny Dobreikin told AFP.
– Patriotic Boobs –
Alexander Saversky, president of the League of Patient Advocates, fears that cheap but potentially dangerous products could soon hit clinics, recalling the scandal surrounding French company PIP’s substandard breast implants.
Saversky predicted that the problems will soon affect the rest of the healthcare industry as well.
“In a few months, the shortage of medical equipment in Russia, 80 percent of which is imported from abroad, will be critical,” he said.
Rising inflation and an uncertain future are also causing problems for beauty professionals as the Russians have started to tighten their belts.
In Saint Petersburg, Vlasova has already noticed a decline in her clientele.
“People’s income has gone down,” she said.
“People are reducing their spending.”
But in the midst of dark times, cosmetic surgeon Dobreikin sees an opportunity.
He wants to win new customers with patriotic themes.
At the end of May he floated the idea of ”RosGrud” (Russian breasts) implants, which are not translucent but in the colors of the Russian flag or military suits.
One of his clients, Nastella Sokolova, a 28-year-old designer, is delighted.
“It’s my way of defending my homeland,” she said.
The surgeon is now looking for a supplier abroad willing to manufacture such implants for him.
Dobreikin warns against mocking his project, alluding to harsh penalties being introduced in the country for anyone who criticizes the army.
“Perhaps those who are against our patriotic implants are also against our country?”
#Russias #cosmetic #surgery #sector #feels #trapped #Western #sanctions
