Richmond owner on favoritism in his Sputnik V deal: 'The government found out after I did this'

06/05/2021 10:23

• Clarín.com

• Society

Updated 06/05/2021 10:43

After the presidential announcement of the agreement with Russia to manufacture the Sputnik V vaccine in Argentina by the Richmond laboratory, the head of that laboratory, Marcelo Figueiras, when asked about versions that indicate that he will have the license due to his proximity to the The ruling party said:

"The government found out after I did this

.

"

The journalist Marcelo Bonelli consulted the businessman: "Many people say that there are strange things and that if you did not have a relationship with the government, the agreement would not have been made" and before this questioning, Figueiras replied: "We started talking with our partners in India that we were already developing biotech products and when they raised the issue of

vaccine, we started working with them and

then we reported it to the government

. "

And he revealed: "My relationship for so many years with the Hetero laboratory [in India], which knows nothing about Argentine politics, was the gateway to Russia."

In addition, he assured that the sayings of Elisa Carrió, who asserted that Cristina Kirchner is the one who drives the alliance with Russia because "she works for Sputnik",

does not dislike him

.

"

I do not like what Lilita said

, it is her opinion and I can show her that it is not like that," challenged Figueiras, who also claimed to have spoken with "the entire political arc" to show "how this is being done" and that there is a "great support of politicians of all the sectors".

Figueiras later announced that

on Tuesday he will go to the National Congress

to explain how the process was in accordance with Russia.

Figueiras was also consulted for the lack of approval that Sputnik V has, for example on the European continent.

In this regard, he said in dialogue with

Radio Miter

: "

Europe is going to end up approving Sputnik

very soon, and if Anmat says that a vaccine can be enabled, we must pay attention to it, we must not make political speculations with this."

"

Vaccines

have shown that they

are all good

and the world pharmaceutical industry was up to the task," remarked the businessman.

Regarding the development in the country, Figueiras said that the current laboratory plant located in the Buenos Aires province of Pilar has the capacity to formulate, filter and package up to 500 thousand doses of the Sputnik V vaccine per week, "about 2 million per week. month ”, always subject to the amount of the active ingredient that is shipped from Russia.

Sputnik V vaccine bottle made by Laboratorios Richmond Argentina

"If everything goes well, production begins next week; at this moment they are fermenting in Moscow the active principle of component 1 of the vaccine and as soon as they finish they send it here", said Figueiras and said that "by the end of month we could have

the first doses on the street

. "

"We have the first dose and they

promised us the second one,

which is even more complex. At the same time that we are manufacturing we are planning the new stage," the businessman celebrated and wished: "I hope

all the vaccines we can

arrive

so that it is finished with this soon. "

Regarding the agreement with

Pfizer

and the complaints filed by the opposition, Figueiras limited himself to saying that "things are changing day by day and that one day it will be well known what happened."

LGP

Look also

Alberto Fernández and Vladimir Putin announced the start of production of the Sputnik V vaccine in Argentina

For Elisa Carrió, Cristina Kirchner is the one who drives the alliance with Russia because "she works for Sputnik"