Russia will earn up to a billion dollars in 2021 from the sale of vaccines against coronavirus – Business – News of St. Petersburg
The trip of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the General Assembly last week sparked a new storm of emotions over the recognition of the Russian “Sputnik V” at the WHO level. A little earlier, WHO officials announced the suspension of vaccine approval, the head of the Gamaleya Center that developed the vaccine, Alexander Gintsburg, bluntly said: it’s all about competition.
“It is not acceptable for us to limit, discriminate against vaccines that are not registered in the US, but have proven their effectiveness many times over. This also applies to Sputnik V, “Lavrov said on September 25 at a press conference following his visit to New York for a session of the UN General Assembly.
At the same time, he notes that even in Europe there are already countries that have recognized the vaccine. Moreover, they are already buying it with might and main. And from a business perspective, it’s even more important than a sense of moral superiority. In the end, how to go to Europe and the United States without the “correct” vaccine, if you really need it very much, there will always be an opportunity. And money is earned differently.
Judging by the statistics of the Federal Customs Service, for the whole of 2020 Russia, already more than 100 years old known throughout the world for its immunological school, exported a variety of vaccines worth 150 million dollars. Rubella, Hepatitis B and more. 100-150 million is the usual annual export volume. However, in 2021, when the mass production of domestic vaccines against coronavirus began, supplies went up sharply.
So, according to the latest data from the Federal Customs Service, in just 7 months, vaccines worth $ 690 million were exported from Russia. So by the end of the year, according to the most conservative estimates, we can expect a figure of about $ 1.1-1.2 billion. If you subtract the supply of “regular”, non-coronavirus vaccines, it turns out that the main export product of Russian immunologists – “Sputnik V” – about a billion dollars in revenue.
The largest sales markets are Argentina, Kazakhstan, India, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico. Among European countries, these are Italy and Hungary, as well as Slovakia and Serbia. Calling each of these countries in something strongly dependent on the will of the Kremlin will not turn one’s tongue. Each has the broadest selection of several vaccines on the global market, both WHO-approved and non-approved. And the fact that in each specific case the choice is made in favor of Sputnik speaks volumes.
Of course, Russia continues to supply “old” vaccines as well. Rubella and hepatitis B are not going anywhere in the world, even in the midst of the coronavirus. But it is Sputnik that is becoming our shock product on the global pharmaceutical market, even without any WHO approvals.