Dear Ms.
Folentová
, I am writing to you on behalf of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a leading sovereign wealth fund with more than 10 billion US dollars under management. On thw 8
th
of April Dennik N published an article by
Veronika Folentová
entitled
“Čo píše v stanovisku štátny ústav o Sputniku? Vakcíny v rôznych krajinách spája len názov”
at https://dennikn.sk/2343450/co- pise-v-stanovisku-statny-ustav-o-sputniku-vakciny-v-roznych-krajinach-spaja-len-nazov/. The article referred to the number of incorrect and misleading statements made by the Slovak regulator
–
State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL), which used for incorrect testing not EU-certified laboratory. RDIF and the Gamaleya Institute repeatedly insisted that all these statements were false and incorrect and rejected the Slovak allegations as "fake news". We would like to inform you that, as the laboratory used by SUKL for incorrect testing was not EU-certified for such testing, the batch of Sputnik V vaccine provided for Slovakia was sent to a certified lab in Hungary, and on 07 May 2021 the Slovak Health Minister announced that
the test run by Hungary’s National Public
Health Center in the EU-certified lab confirmed that Sputnik V batch sent to Slovakia met all safety and other requirements (https://www.tasr.sk/tasr-clanok/TASR:20210507TBB00092). These conclusions
completely debunk earlier incorrect Slovak statements to the contrary. We are concerned that your article in its current form contains unsubstantiated and false statements made by SUKL earlier and now refuted by the certified lab. Therefore, the article may likely cause significant harm to reputation and business interests of RDIF as an entity entitled to organize production and distribution of the Sputnik V vaccine. We firmly insist that you either remove the article entirely or include in it the comment of the Slovak Health Minister (https://www.tasr.sk/tasr-clanok/TASR:20210507TBB00092) and comments
of RDIF published on the Sputnik V official Twitter account (https://twitter.com/sputnikvaccine/status/1390644720183951367?s=20).
We would like to note that we are deeply concerned about the numerous false and misleading statements published by certain media in regards to the Sputnik V vaccine, which denigrate the entire Russian effort to develop the worl
d’s premier vaccine against Covid
-19, plainly mislead the readers and cast doubts on all the hard work performed by the individuals and entities involved in it, including RDIF, and on their commitment to provide the humanity with one of the top three most efficacious vaccines at an affordable price. Therefore, we ask you to either remove the article entirely or reflect our position by publishing the above mentioned comments in full by the end of the day on May 9, 2021, as it is absolutely critical for us and shows the reality of the situation as well as reflects the enormous efforts by RDIF and partners in fighting the pandemic. Otherwise, RDIF reserves all rights to protect its reputation and legitimate interests and be To: Veronika Folentova
Joint Stock Company
«Management Company of Russian Direct Investment Fund»
Capital City, South Tower, 7th floor Presnenskaya emb., 8/1, Moscow, Russia 123112 Tel.: +7 (495) 644-3414, Fax: +7 (495) 644-3413 08/05/2021
compensated for any caused harm, including by commencing court proceedings against Dennik N in any relevant jurisdiction. We also firmly insist that all the future articles published by Dennik N reflect our position by including the aforementioned comment of the Slovak Health Minister and comments of RDIF published on the Sputnik V official Twitter account. Yours sincerely, __________________ Mikhail Irzhevsky General Counsel