The article discusses the modern principles of lipid-lowering therapy and approaches to its administration in terms of levels of cardiovascular risk. The characteristics of groups of patients with different levels of cardiovascular risk (from low to high) in primary prevention are given. The article defines the target levels of low- density lipoprotein cholesterol, which should be achieved with the modern lipid-lowering therapy. The clinical effects of statins in primary prevention are presented. The clinical results of two large studies of rosuvastatin that have changed the approach to statin prescribing in primary prevention are discussed. The article presents the results of the analysis of long-term follow-up of patients in the primary prevention after the completion of randomized clinical studies. Approaches to the use of statins for novel coronavirus infection are considered.