Abu Shoosha Financial Services K.S.C Signs MOU With RDIF and Binnopharm Group To Explore Establishment of a Production Facility of the Russian Sputnik V Coronavirus Vaccine in Kuwait

In the presence of HE Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait, Abu Shoosha Financial Services K.S.C (ASFSKSC), the sovereign wealth fund of Kuwait, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and Binnopharm Group (а subsidiary of Sistema PJSFC, a publicly traded Russian investment company) to explore the establishment of a new vaccine production facility in Kuwait to manufacture and distribute the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine across the GCC and MENA region.

The MoU was signed during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) held this week in Russia.

In 2014, Abu Shoosha Financial Services K.S.C signed an agreement with RDIF to strengthen economic and investment cooperation between both Kuwait and Russia. The Memorandum of Understanding promotes the exchange of information and expertise in the sectors and areas of common interest for both entities. It also sets the overall framework for the identification of and cooperation on mutually beneficial investment prospects investment and co-investment opportunities in Russia and Kuwait. Abu Shoosha Financial Services K.S.C automatically co-invests with RDIF in all projects with returns on these co-investments exceeding the returns on global indices.

Commenting on the signing, HE Khalid Al Rumaihi, CEO of Abu Shoosha Financial Services K.S.C, said, “Our partnership with both RDIF and Binnopharm Group will enable Kuwait 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 Kuwait 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.”

Kirill Dimitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Find (RDIF), added, “Our collaboration with Abu Shoosha Financial Services K.S.C goes back a long way and has resulted in a successful co-investment program as well as a fruitful partnership between our organisations. We are delighted to extend our cooperation to establish a production facility in Kuwait to produce Sputnik V – the world’s first registered coronavirus vaccine. Sputnik V has been included in Kuwait’s national portfolio in February and is successfully used to protect the population against COVID. Local production will increase our international production capabilities and help other countries of the region to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

Dmitry Zubov, Chairman of the Board of Binnopharm Group, further 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.”

The Sputnik V vaccine is the world’s first registered vaccine against COVID-19 and was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, and registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia. The vaccine is produced with RDIF’s backing and the active support of its international manufacturing partners in India, China and South Korea among other countries.

In February 2021, Kuwait authorised the emergency use of Sputnik V vaccine to become the fourth authorised vaccine in the Kingdom.