Saint-Petersburg, June 3, 2021 – The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat, sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain) and Binnopharm Group (а subsidiary of Sistema PJSFC, a publicly traded Russian investment company) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a new vaccine production facility in the Kingdom of Bahrain to manufacture and distribute the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine across the MENA region.
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
In 2014, RDIF and Mumtalakat signed an agreement aimed at strengthening economic and investment cooperation between Russia and Bahrain. Mumtalakat automatically co-invests with RDIF in all projects with returns on these co-investments exceeding the returns on global indices.
As part of cooperation the two funds recently joined efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus and intend to establish a local production of Sputnik V, the world’s first registered vaccine against coronavirus, in Bahrain. Bahrain authorized the emergency use of Sputnik V vaccine In February 2021.
Kirill Dimitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Find (RDIF), said;
“Our collaboration with Mumtalakat goes back a long way and has resulted in a successful co-investment program as well as a fruitful partnership between our organizations. We are delighted to extend our cooperation to establish a production facility in Bahrain to produce Sputnik V - the world’s first registered coronavirus vaccine. Sputnik V has been included in Bahrain’s national portfolio in February and is successfully used to protect the population against coronavirus. Local production will increase our international production capabilities and help other countries of the region to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
HE Khalid Al Rumaihi, CEO of Mumtalakat, commented:
“Our partnership with both RDIF and Binnopharm Group will enable the Kingdom of Bahrain to continue to be at the forefront of fighting this pandemic whilst working to further enhance the region’s healthcare sector through the establishment of this facility. As the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain we continue to look into partnerships and ventures that will add value to our portfolio as well as bring long-term sustainable solutions to the Kingdom and wider region.”
Dmitry Zubov, Chairman of the Board of Binnopharm Group, added:
“Last summer, Binnopharm Group’s pharmaceutical plant in Zelenograd was the first in Russia to launch production of the COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V. Over the last year we perfected the technology down to the details and now have a good understanding of how to scale up production of the vaccine. We are happy to share our know-how with other countries to assist them in developing their own production of Sputnik V at scale.”
Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:
Efficacy of Sputnik V vector vaccine against coronavirus RDIF is 97.6% based on the analysis of data on the coronavirus infection rate among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V from December 5, 2020 to March 31, 2021;
The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.
Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.
The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.
There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.
The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.
The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world.
***
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF’s management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia’s GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at rdif.ru
Mumtalakat, the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, is the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain. With a mandate to grow the wealth of Bahrain through long-term investments based on sound financial, strategic and governance principles, Mumtalakat holds stakes in over 60 commercial enterprises with a portfolio spanning a variety of sectors, including industrial manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, real estate, logistics, consumer products, healthcare and education. Further details on Mumtalakat can be found at mumtalakat.bh
Binnopharm Group is a full-cycle Russian pharmaceutical holding company that combines five production sites located in different regions of Russia: JSC Alium (the Serpukhov district of the Moscow region), JSC Binnopharm (2 sites: Zelenograd and Krasnogorsk), OJSC Sintez (Kurgan) and CJSC Biocom (Stavropol). Binnopharm Group companies produce a wide range of drugs of various therapeutic groups and have the largest portfolio of drugs among Russian manufacturers (more than 450 marketing authorisations, including the COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V). Binnopharm Group is а subsidiary of Sistema PJSFC, a publicly traded Russian investment company.
For additional information contact:
Alexey Urazov Russian Direct Investment Fund Director for External Communications Mobile: +7 915 312 76 65 E-mail: [email protected]
Andrew Leach / Maria Shiryaevskaya Hudson Sandler Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 4133
Jenan Almaskati Manager - Communications & External Affairs Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat) E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +973 561280
Binnopharm Group Public Relations Elena Shipilova Phone: +7 (965) 144 11 11 E-mail: [email protected]
Message has been successfully sent!
