Russia Wealth Fund Blames COVID Vaccine Companies for U.S. Sanctions

The Russian Direct Investment Fund criticized U.S. sanctions, claiming officials were influenced by American pharmaceutical companies who sought to hinder Russia's vaccine on the global market.

The Biden administration is prohibiting Americans from engaging in transactions with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in an effort to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his attacks on Ukraine. RDIF is an investor in Sputnik V, a Russian COVID-19 vaccine, and the backlash could hinder Russia's push to make Sputnik V available worldwide.

In a Monday statement, RDIF accused western pharmaceutical companies of lobbying for the restrictions to complicate RDIF's ability to promote the Russian vaccine product internationally.

"As a result of such unfair competition, billions of people around the world may be deprived of effective and safe Russian-made vaccines," RDIF said in a statement obtained by Newsweek.

Russia's been pushing for its vaccine to be incorporated into global vaccination efforts but has struggled to earn the approval of the World Health Organization (WHO). In June, WHO officials found one of four manufacturing sites of the vaccine to be out of compliance with good manufacturing practices.

The WHO said they would continue to assess the vaccines subject to certain requirements being met and officials are set to inspect manufacturing sites again in March. The organization has approved nine COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use, a prerequisite for doses being used for COVAX, a global vaccination effort.

Ahead of approval from the WHO, UNICEF signed an agreement with Human Vaccine, a subsidiary of the RDIF, for up to 220 million doses of the vaccine for 2021. However, the agreement was dependent on WHO approval.

Newsweek reached out to the World Health Organization and UNICEF for comment.

Russian officials and media outlets have championed Sputnik as being one of, if not the best, COVID-19 vaccines on the market. Despite commitments from Russian officials that the vaccine is safe and extremely effective, only a few dozen countries have authorized the vaccine for use in their countries. Those countries are predominantly found in South America, Africa and the Middle East.

The European Union hasn't authorized the vaccine and even if the European Medicines Agency (EMA) signs off on Sputnik, Bavaria, a German state, won't allow it to be used.

It's an about-face from last year when the Bavarian Health Ministry signed a letter of intent with the RDIF to buy 2.5 million doses of Sputnik V. The purchase was conditional on EMA approval and on Wednesday, Markus Soeder, Bavaria's premier, said the agreement is "over."

He cited Russia's latest aggression against Ukraine as the breaking point for future sales and called it "inconceivable" for the agreement to continue, according to Reuters.

Even if the vaccine got approval from the EU, it's unclear if its exportation would be possible given the number of sanctions countries are putting on Russian entities. The United States Department of Treasury noted that Putin and his "inner circle of cronies" rely on the RDIF to raise funds abroad. The sanctions, according to the Treasury Department, are to "impose costs" on Putin and those close to him for his "war of choice."

RDIF maintained that the sanctions were "politically motivated" and said it would explore judicial recourse.